England 12/1 to land confidence-boosting victory ahead of The Ashes

As you might expect with this unpredictable version of cricket, the outright market for the World Twenty20 championship has an open look about it. That’s probably because if this tournament was played several times, there would be a variety of winners, with matches often being decided by a spectacular batting or bowling performance. It’s India (3/1 Skybet) who are the current favourites after winning the inaugural tournament in South Africa two years ago, However, there are fitness concerns over the likes of Zaheer Khan and Virender Sehwag which are threatening to derail the holder’s hopes of retaining their crown.

Despite failing to win on home soil two years ago, most bookmakers have South Africa as second favourites (5/1 Victor Chandler) and it’s easy to see why. Graeme Smith’s team are the number one in one-day cricket and have a host of players who are well versed in Twenty20 cricket, having played in the IPL. In addition to the captain, all eyes will be on all-rounder Jacques Kallis, who missed out in 2007 but clearly has the ability to help his team go a long way. The Proteas rate as a better value bet than Australia (5/1 Stan James), who have some familiar names in the line-up, but don’t have a great track record for this type of cricket.

Pakistan could be the dark horses of the tournament, having lost the 2007 final by only five runs against India. Indeed, Ladbrokes and William Hill respect them to the extent where they offer just 6/1, although totesport go 8/1 that they go better than two years ago. Fast bowler Mohammad Aamer has been added to the squad, with Umar Gul a player that no batsman will enjoy facing. Boylesports offer 25/1 that he is the tournament top bowler once again, although it’s the Sri Lanka pairing of Malinga (18/1 Blue Square) and Mularitharan (18/1 Boylesports) who head that particular market.

Quite whether the Lankans have the batsmen to take them all the way is another matter, although they’re on offer at 8/1 (Expekt) on the outright market. One word of caution to backers is that they feature in the same group as the Aussies and the West Indies (14/1 Victor Chandler), with only two of these teams able to qualify for the Super 8 stage. Hosts England have no such worries and many will be having a speculative punt on Paul Collingwood’s team at 12/1 (Ladbrokes). While the team doesn’t have an abundance of Twenty20 experience, they have two excellent batsmen in Kevin Pietersen and Ravi Bopara. Indeed, the latter looks attractive to finish top run-scorer for his team at odds of 7/2 (Paddy Power).