Pakistan loss comes under ICC scanner, claims British daily

LONDON: England’s victory over Pakistan in the third One-day International in Sharjah on Tuesday is being investigated for corruption, a British daily claimed on Friday.
According to the Daily Mail, investigators from the ICC’s anti-corruption unit have requested data from international betting markets about match-fixing following an erratic performance by Pakistan.
England won the match by six wickets after Pakistan collapsed from 132 for two to 208 all out, including three farcical run-outs. They then dropped three catches in the field and missed a stumping.
Officials were tipped off after the toss in Sharjah that the illegal Indian betting market, worth billions of dollars per game, was expecting Pakistan to underperform. It has also emerged that officers were warned about potential corruption before the series began.
Rumours were rife among bookmakers in the country, and the ICC received intelligence that there could at least be an attempt to manipulate the betting odds in favour of syndicates who would be betting huge sums.
The chief reason is suspicious betting patterns — one of the key signposts for fixing.The ICC have been told that twice the ‘normal’ amount of money was wagered on Pakistan in a game which attracted more than £20 million in bets on Betfair, the international betting exchange.
The day before the Sharjah match, England were rated as strong favourites to win. Seasoned odds watchers would argue that was an extremely rare event for any England one-day team in Asia, where they traditionally struggle.
Pakistan were what betting experts would call ‘virtually friendless’ (no one wanted to bet on them) on Betfair, which Indian bookmakers often use to help manage their accounts.Pakistan were favourites to win in Sharjah when they were only two wickets down but the clatter of wickets which followed produced what is known as a ‘flip flop’ when the betting odds are reversed in dramatic and rapid fashion.