India v Pakistan spreads special

On Sunday, Edgbaston will host the most talked-about match of the ICC tournament so far when India take on Pakistan. The bookies have got Pakistan as odds-on favourites to win this one and progress to the semi-finals. If, however, you're thinking of having a bet on this match and want a different perspective on things, it's worth considering the spread betting markets available from Sporting Index. We asked the senior cricket trader at Sporting Index for a few tips:

One off the wrist
"The toss will be absolutely crucial to this match and will probably determine who wins. Although India are still missing Tendulkar, their batting line-up is still class and I expect them to come out and attack more than Pakistan. However, if they lose the toss and have to bat in the morning, I'm not convinced they will be able to hold out against the sharp-looking Pakistani pacemen or spinners."

"Sehwag is very much out of touch and in a lot of trouble. His loss of form means that he's on the verge of being dropped down the order, and we expect to see a lot of people betting against him. Fortunately for India, Ganguly is in great form and notching up some solid totals, and their opening bowler Pathan is very exciting - both are worth backing on the player markets. Similarly for Pakistan, Shoaib Malik is worth getting with - promoted to three in the batting order and with three wickets against Kenya he looks like a safe bet.

"Personally, I'll be backing Pakistan because of their superior ability to exploit the conditions. However, I expect that a lot of punters will wait until Sunday before deciding which team to back and who to oppose."

Free £200 spread bet
Sporting Index run a huge number of markets on the teams as well as individual players, and are currently offering a free £10 per run bet to all new clients. If for some reason that doesn't appeal, you can claim a £200 per goal football bet, or £100 cashback - it's not often a bookie will be that generous.

Batsman's runs
One of the popular spread betting markets is based on the number of runs a batsman will score. Basically, the bookmaker makes a prediction (this is the "spread"), and depending on what you think of the spread you bet high ("Buy") at the higher number or bet low ("Sell") at the lower number. How much you win or lose depends on how right or wrong you are. For example, ahead of Sunday's match, Sporting Index are predicting the following:

Sehwag total runs: 32 to 37 Ganguly total runs: 35 to 40 Hameed total runs: 30 to 35 Inzamam-ul-Haq total runs: 30 to 35

Free £10 per run bet
The £10 per run free bet offer from Sporting is based on the number of runs a team gets in their 1st 15 overs:

India 1st 15 overs runs: 70 to 75 Pakistan 1st 15 overs runs: 67 to 72

If you think that the Pakistan spread is too low, then you would "Buy" (bet high) at 72 runs, using your free bet stake of £10 per run. If you're right and they get 78 runs, then you would win (78 - 72) x £10 = 6 x £10 = £60.

On the other hand, you may consider this spread too high, in which case you'd "Sell" (bet low) at 67 runs. If they struggle at first and only get 60 runs, then you'd win (67 - 60) x £10 = 7 x £10 = £70. However, if you get it wrong and they notch up 70, you'd lose (70 - 67) x £10 = 3 x £10 = £30 - but because this is a free bet, then it costs you nothing!

Free bet offers
The above is just a tiny sample of what you can bet on with Sporting Index, and hopefully that's whet your appetite to find out a bit more about spread betting on the ICC tournament. The spreads will change as the match progresses, meaning you can bet during the match, and also have a punt on the Ryder Cup, Premiership football or a whole load of other sports.