Cricket Match Fixing Revealed by a British Online Sportsbook

Sadly, today’s sport is full of bad guys. We can talk about doping, unsportsmanlike behavior, even racism, but the most common wrong-doing is of course match fixing. Every now and then a player deems the game less important that their personal game and turns to the dark side.

Cricket is one particular sport that is still plagued by match fixing on both amateur and professional levels. Naturally, such behavior raises lots of concern from government and sporting organizations, but despite their best efforts, the problem still persists.

British gambling news reported the results of a special investigation carried out by the Mail Online. The game in question was the one-day international series held between Pakistan and the West Indies. The suspicions were already raised after several dodgy betting patterns were identified during the low-profile five-match series.

Slow run-rates for certain overs were followed by spurts of high scoring, which made the industry watchers who upkeep British gambling laws, raise alarms. The particular interest fell on the tied third match of the series, hosted in St. Lucia, but also the final game, where Pakistan has won with the very last ball.

The second ODI, where Pakistan has failed to score a run off the bat in the first five overs, despite being set 233 to win, is also currently being investigated by the officials. An unnamed operator of online sportsbooks in United Kingdom has shared with the officials reports of unusually large sums of money – several millions of pounds – bet between innings on a tied result while West Indies were set 230 to win from 50 overs in the third ODI.

Pakistan was a clear favorite to win, while West Indies needed 45 off in the last 21 balls with only 3 wickets left. And then a “miracle” happened, the last players were scoring at more than four times the rate of their team-mates, giving West Indies a very unlikely tie, thus raising concerns with the sportsbook and subsequently the authorities.

Both Pakistan and West Indies are said to be facing allegations of corruption, as the investigation is still being carried out.