The tenth edition of ‘Round the Sports World in five minutes’ will give you the betting lowdown, a fun fact and analysis ahead of Wednesday’s game in the Hundred, the European Super Cup and the BMW Golf Championship out in Maryland, in the USA, as the FedEx Cup heats up.
The Hundred: Southern Brave - Northern Superchargers
- Start: Wednesday, 13 August at 15:00
- Venue: Rose Bowl, Southampton, England
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports Cricket
- Fun Fact: The Northern Superchargers are coached by former England Test captain Andrew Flintoff, who also presented Top Gear on TV before a near-fatal crash during filming brought that to an end. Among the Superchargers’ squad is his 17-year-old son, Rocky Flintoff, a hard-hitting batsman, but he’s yet to feature in the team’s first two games.
Betting
The Brave have been priced up as marginal favourites at 1.75 with BetVictor, the Northern Superchargers just a bit bigger at 2.0.
In the Southern Brave Top Batsman market, veteran skipper James Vince is the favourite to top-score for his side with the bat (3.0). Those who have followed his career will know what a perennial winner he’s been in this market over the years.
That said, Jason Roy (4.3) and Leus Du Plooy (4.0) top-scored in the first and second matches, respectively, and bat in the top 3. If you’re after a slightly bigger price than that on Vince, they’re both decent options.
Another habitual winner in these cricket side markets is the Superchargers’ Adil Rashid for top bowler honours. He may be 37, but he’s not showing any signs of slowing down and has already taken four wickets in two games with his leg-spin. He’s the 3.6 favourite to be the Superchargers’ top bowler with Mohammed Amir (3.8) and Matty Potts (4.5).
Summary
The Southern Brave are two from two and look like a well-drilled side as per usual under the astute captaincy of Vince. Those back-to-back wins shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, given they were the second favourites to win the competition behind the Oval Invincibles before a ball was bowled.
As for the Superchargers, they put in an excellent display in their first match. But that was followed by defeat to the Trent Rockets on Sunday afternoon after a poor start.
A win here for the Brave and they’ll be in a brilliant position to make the Playoffs, despite it being early days yet. The Superchargers will be leaving themselves plenty to do if they lose this one.
PSG - Tottenham UEFA European Super Cup
- Start: Wednesday, 13 August at 20:00
- Venue: Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy
- TV Coverage: TNT Sports
- Fun Fact: For PSG, this is their second appearance in a European Super Cup, the first being when they were heavily beaten by Juventus back in 1996. As for the Spurs, it will be their first appearance in it. If they win it, they’ll be the seventh English club to do so.
Betting
The bookies have very much made their mind up about this one, with Bet365 making PSG just 1.4 to win the game in 90 minutes and 1.25 to lift the Cup. It’s 5.0 that the game is drawn after 90 minutes and a big 7.0 that Tottenham win it in normal time.
It’s also 4.0 that Spurs lift the trophy and a reminder that the European Super Cup doesn’t have extra time - if it’s drawn after 90 minutes, it goes straight to penalties.
Unsurprisingly, the favourite for the Ballon d’Or, PSG’s Ousman Dembele, is the 1.91 favourite to score. Bet365 is also going 3.75 that he assists a goal and 1.5 that he either scores or assists.
They have also enhanced their odds from 2.63 to 2.75 that PSG will win the match, with both teams scoring in the process.
Summary
PSG are here courtesy of their 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in the final of last season’s Champions League, while Tottenham earned the right to face them after a narrow 1-0 win over Manchester United in the final of the Europa League.
Part of the reason Spurs are such a big price is that they’ll have to make do without the services of former skipper So Heung-min who has left for the MLS, plus James Maddison, who is likely to be out for most of the season with an ACL injury, while Dejan Kulusevski is also out with injury, albeit a far less serious one.
Interestingly, these two have never met in European competition; the only game between them was a friendly back in 2017, which Spurs won 4-2, so there’s no head-to-head in official matches to go by.
BMW Championship
- Start: Thursday, 14 August
- Venue: Caves Valley Golf Club, Maryland
- TV Coverage: Sky Sports Golf
- Fun Fact: Keegan Bradley backers at this tournament have filled their pockets over the last six years with the current Ryder Cup captain winning it in both 2018 and 2024, and both times going off at prices in excess of 200.0! He’s 36.0 to win it again this year.
Betting
No prizes for guessing who’s the favourite here. Yes, it’s that man Scottie Scheffler, but 3.3 with Betfred is a mighty short price given the quality of the field here. Then again, we’ve said that before about Scheffler, and the truth is he just keeps on winning, as happened at The Open a few weeks ago.
Rory McIlroy, who opted out of playing last week, is next in the betting at 8.0 with Xander Schauffele and Tommy Fleetwood, who lost in a Playoff last week, both 21.0. Veteran Justin Rose, who beat him in that Playoff, is 41.0, but it would be almost impossible to come back this week and do it all over again.
Summary
This event is the second of three FedExCup Playoff tournaments. Only the top 50 players from the previous playoff stage (FedEx St. Jude Championship) qualify, with the top 30 advancing to the Tour Championship. Notably, this event features no cut; all 50 play the entire four rounds.
So this really is the cream of the cream of the PGA Tour and one of the strongest fields you’re likely to see in a golf tournament this year.
Whoever does win will pocket $3.6 million in prize money, out of a massive purse of $20 million.
Betting Tip of the Week: Back the London Spirit to Beat the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred
Followers of this column will have enjoyed back-to-back winners on the Bet of the Week, with the two most recent ones coming in at 2.3 and 2.2 over the last fortnight, both of them courtesy of going low on goals in qualifying matches in European football.
We’re keeping it simple this week in search of the hat-trick, and we’re going with the Southern Brave to beat the Northern Superchargers at 1.75. They look a better-balanced side than the Superchargers and certainly hold the upper hand when it comes to the bowling.
They’re also extremely reliable when at home, so all in all, it looks like a pretty good price.
