Out for $20,000 - a punter's nightmare
By Trevor Marshallsea
March 14, 2006

IT WAS money for old rope, fruit for the sideboard, or, as punters have been saying since gambling was invented, an absolute certainty. Or so a few cashed-up cricket followers believed.

After Australia posted a world record 4-434 in their one-day match in South Africa late on Sunday night, Sydney time, most Australian fans went to bed, content victory was secure. But a few went chasing easy money. The odds weren't flash, but there was no way Australia could lose, was there?

There was. Unbelievably, South Africa won by reaching 438 off the second-last ball, with only one wicket to spare.

Most cricket fans will have been stunned to hear the result upon waking up. But a few in particular will have gone into shock.

In between innings, two Australian punters put $20,000 on the World Cup holders to win at odds of $1.01 with Centrebet - standing to win just $200 each. Another got on with Sportsbook.com.au at the more generous $1.06, betting $16,000 to win $960. Instead, the three cocky gamblers lost the lot.

"I almost didn't bother putting the odds up between innings," said Centrebet's Gerard Daffy. "I didn't think anyone would be interested. It just goes to show again, there's no such thing as a certainty. It's what keeps bookmakers in business."

It was perhaps the game's biggest shock since England beat Australia in the Headingley Test of 1981, when Dennis Lillee and Rod Marsh famously backed their rivals midway through the match, having noticed they were at a juicy 500-1.

There were no such odds about South Africa at the halfway stage, only $26. Not surprisingly, Centrebet did not take a single bet on them.