Hosts South Africa primed for early win

Finally the International Cricket Council has got the right idea and planned a cricket tournament that is short, sharp and to the point, this year’s Champions Trophy is what all ICC events should be based on.

A world champion will be decided from the top eight teams, all done and dusted in 15 matches that include semis and the final.

With the boredom cut from the event (I mean after all who wants to watch the Netherlands play Bermuda in a ODI?) this year’s tournament will give cricket punters just what they need – the best of the best vying for top honours.

Does anyone remember the 2003 and 2007 World Cups where punters were forced to sit through 52 and 59 games of cricket respectively just to see one of the top eight teams win?

To kick-start the blitzkrieg tournament, hosts South Africa (-185) will get the chance to show they deserve to be ranked the number one team in the world with a victory over Sri Lanka (+145) at Centurion.

The Proteas have the wood on Sri Lanka in recent times winning five of the six matches they have played at ICC events. Their overall record however is slightly better than 50/50 having won 22 of the 45 matches they have played since 1992.

The most important statistic though is this one: Since the 2006/07 Champions Trophy, South Africa have won 13 of their past 17 ODI series with just two losses to Australia and one apiece to India and England.

In fact they have destroyed the world’s best in some cases with eight series whitewashes.

Of course spanking Zimbabwe, Kenya and Bangladesh shouldn’t be counted in these stats but of course they are, which could give a false sense of security to Proteas fans.

Sri Lanka, well, they have been up and down. They had a series win against T20 World Champions Pakistan before they lost the Compaq Cup to India a week ago.

The good news for Sri Lanka though is that their losses against sub-continent compatriots India and Pakistan will count for nought as they won’t meet each other potentially until the semi-finals which means the Lankans will want a victory against England and New Zealand in their pool.

I don’t give them much chance of beating South Africa who, with a team littered with talent, should be too strong.

In saying that, Sri Lanka have that ability to pull a rabbit out of the hat every now and again and with the Proteas lumped with the extra pressure of being the hosts, maybe the time is ripe for the picking.