An outright betting preview for the 2026 T20 World Cup to be staged in India and Sri Lanka from Saturday 7th February to Sunday 8th March
DRINKS ALL ROUND
Personally, I prefer the layers of complexity that only test cricket can offer. Like a good red wine you can sip and savour the depth of flavour created by the natural aspects of the terroir and the grape combined with what is introduced through the chosen fermentation method of the winemaker. White-ball cricket on the other hand is more the I’m thirsty version or the party-starter type of drink.
So, let’s call the fifty over cricket the craft beer of the cricketing world: Fancy 15 years ago, still a bit of a status flex when you enjoy one, but mostly the product is struggling to belong.
Twenty20 cricket on the other hand is a cocktail: Flashy, fancy but also often quite tasty if you pick right (both in terms of the establishment and the specific item ordered).
Whilst I will always remain an avid red wine drinker, I believe there is scope to enjoy the others on occasion as well. And right now happy hour is approaching and I can see a waitress with a cocktail menu coming my way…!
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The 2026 version of the event is to be duel-hosted by Sri Lanka and India. Twenty teams will compete in the Group stages, dividend into four groups of five.
Most Groups seem rather easy to predict in terms of having two strong contenders on paper with Group D likely to be considered the Pool of Death. South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan set to duel it out for the two qualifying spots in this one. On the other side of the spectrum India seems likely to be handed an easy passage as Pakistan (their only “strong” opponents in Group A) sound destined to forfeit their Group fixture against the tournament hosts as that dirty thing called politics enters the sporting arena.
The top two teams in each group will progress to the “Super 8” phase of the competition. At that stage things get a bit trickier as pre-tournament seeding has already allocated who will progress to Group 1 and Group 2 in this phase.
Top dogs, India, Australia and South Africa are all pre-allocated to Group 1, whilst England appear the strongest of the pre-tournament favourites allocated to Group 2.
The top two teams in each of these groups will make it to the play-offs.
WHO’S HOT AND WHO’S NOT
The South Africans come into this tournament off the back of a long domestic T20 comp in the form of the Betway SA20 and should be hotter than a Donal Trump press conference when the topic of Jeffrey Epstein comes up. In terms of world rankings India enter the competition as the top ranked contender but in T20’s it is difficult to take much from that given the fact that series are often squeezed into existing touring schedules and the first-choice players are often rested for the hit-and-giggle version of the game.
On the player front the tweakers are likely to enjoy conditions (even though quicks have won the purple cap in the IPL over the past number of years) and the feeling is that the likes of Bumrah and Rabada aren’t exactly coming into the tournament in their best form whilst Pat Cummins had to withdraw due to injury. For mind the teams with strongest spin options at their disposal should go far.
WHERE TO WIN THE COIN
England seem to have found a combination that works for them. They have the Salt and pepper combo at the top with the spice of Phil and the experience of Buttler. Harry Brook is devastating in the middle to latter part of the innings and there is plenty of spin options in Rashid, Bethell and Dawson. They were handed a plumb draw to take them all the way to the finals.
To win the tournament – England @ 11/2 with Pokerbet
As a bit of a speculative play I will take the second home team. They got their buts handed to them by the Poms coming into the big event but should sneak into Group of 8 since they probably only have to account for Zimbabwe. From there anything can happen since they also find themselves in the “easier” Group 2.
To win the tournament – Sri Lanka @ 40/1 with Pokerbet
Note, odds are subject to change