Now it gets serious

On Friday England meet Sri Lanka at Southampton in a tie that is difficult to call. England are the narrowest of favourites at 8/11, but may need to improve on their early-order batting performance against Zimbabwe in last week's curtain-raiser. Sri Lanka had a testing run out against Zimbabwe at The Oval on Tuesday, and are 1/1 (evens) to win.

On Saturday South Africa take on West Indies. Graeme Smith's side made short work of Bangladesh, and are good value at 8/15 to brush aside the men from the Caribbean. Lara's team will be tested at The Brit Oval, and are 11/8 to win on Saturday.

On Sunday comes the most keenly anticipated match of the tournament so far. India meet Pakistan at Edgbaston - the seventh time the teams have met this year in one-day internationals. In recent ODIs between the countries, India have failed to shine, losing to Pakistan in the Asia Cup and then again in a rain-affected match in Holland.

Characteristic of recent failures is an unexpected fragility in a batting order bereft of Sachin Tendulkar. In the light of recent form, bet365 have installed Pakistan as 4/6 favourites for this match - they are 4/6 with India looking a good outside bet at 11/10. India's recent match practice against England could yet prove valuable in a contest that the world will be watching with bated breath.

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