England v New Zealand
Cricket World Cup Final
BBC – 10.30 am
England produced a stunning display in their World Cup semi final match against Australia on Thursday. Having already been beaten by Australia in the group stage of this year’s tournament, there were plenty of nerves about England’s ability to take down the titleholders. But at Edgbaston, England were on top from pretty much the first ball. They had lost the toss and were set to field, but the tournament hosts took full advantage, skittling out their opponents for just 223.
Chris Woakes, Jofra Archer and Adil Rashid did the damage with the ball. Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow did it with the bat. England lost just the two wickets of their openers in their chase. Eoin Morgan and Joe Root competently saw them home with room to spare, and then some. It was an eight wicket victory for the hosts. The English were the pre-tournament favourites and are now 3/10 to win at Lords on Sunday. They will have plenty of back for punters as one of the best bets of the day.
But New Zealand are a side not to be taken lightly. After finishing the group stage on a three-match losing streak (one of those against England), they tore up the script by beating the powerful India in the semi-finals. The bookies never gave the Black Caps much hope in that game, but they were brilliant with the ball in hand, defending a low total that they had put up. In their World Cup history, they have finished as a losing semi-finalists six times and runners up once. That runners up finish was four years ago. They have tremendous pedigree and will be fearless as 5/2 underdogs.
British Grand Prix
Formula 1 – 2.00 pm
Sky Sports
Lewis Hamilton goes for British Grand Prix title number six. If he gets it, he will set a new record for the most ever wins at the race. The Mercedes driver is the 4/5 outright favourite to win on Sunday at Silverstone. Hamilton has won six of the nine races which have been ran this season already. For the first time this season, he didn’t get a top-two finish as he could only manage fight in Austria. Mercedes were running with an overheating problem at the Red Bull Ring.
But Hamilton is the one to catch and is a clear front runner in Northamptonshire in cooler weather and lower altitude. It’s his home event and has such a phenomenal track record at Silverstone. A poor start cost him his fifth straight win at the race last year though. He was clipped and spun off on the third corner. Still he worked his way up from the back of the entire pack to take second behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Last season the Ferrari’s were very good, better than expected at Silverstone. Can Vettel or teammate Charles Leclerc put Hamilton’s record-breaking on ice for another year at least?
Senegal v Tunisia
Afcon Semi Final – 5.00 pm
Eurosport
Senegal squeezed their way past the challenge of Benin in their quarter-final tie. It was Everton’s Idrissa Gueye who got the only goal of the game to send the Lions of Teranga through to the final four. That is back to back 1-0 wins that they have taken in the tournament now after beating Uganda by that scoreline in the round of sixteen. Back in the group stage, they went W2 L1, the defeat coming against Algeria, one of the other semi-finalists. Senegal are in some fantastic form winning 10 of their last 11 games, conceding in just two of those games.
The Eagles of Carthage had an easier time in their semi-final match. The Tunisians took on minnows Madagascar who had defied all odds to make it to the final eight. But Tunisia put on a show to romp to a 3-0 win. That was the best that they have played in the entire tournament having drawn their four previous games in this year’s campaign. They had beaten Ghana on a penalty shoot-out in the round of sixteen. Senegal are the even-money favourites, with Tunisia at 16/5 with leading bookmakers. It’s likely to be a tight battle though.
Algeria v Nigeria
Afcon Semi Final – 5.00 pm
Eurosport
Nigeria looked to be heading to extra time in their quarter-final duel with South Africa. But the Super Eagles netted through William Troost-Ekong in the 89th minute to get the win by a 2-1 scoreline. Nigeria had also had a tight battle in the round of sixteen where they were up against holders Cameroon. The Super Eagles took a 3-2 win in the match, fighting back from behind 2-1 behind in the second half. Nigeria are 9/5 underdogs to win in this semi-final tussle with Algeria.
The Desert Foxes are second-favourites behind Senegal to win the tournament outright from this stage. They were perfect with three wins from three in the group stage of the competition, and their hot hand continued with a 3-0 win over Guinea in the round of sixteen. Then they had their first real big stress. They faced the Ivory Coast in the quarterfinals and couldn’t see off the Elephants. It went to a penalty shoot-out with Algeria winning 4-3. The top bookmakers give them the narrow edge at 10/11 To Qualify.
