The India-Pakistan encounter might have sold out months before but neither team is bookmakers' favourite to reach the final of the ICC Champions Trophy beginning on Friday, September 10.

The bookmakers, who have placed World Champions Australia at a tempting 31-20 to lift the trophy, expect whichever team progressing to semi-final to lose to South Africa.

Both India and Pakistan, who are in Group C and face off at Edgbaston on Sep 19 in what is expected to be an electrifying final league clash, have received odds of 8-1 at 'readabet.com' website which placed South Africa as the second favourites at 15-2.

England, who reversed their poor one-day form to defeat India 2-1 in the recent NatWest Challenge, have been backed at 17-2 while New Zealand were 9-1, which the website said was too narrow to reflect their prowess in the shorter version of the game.

The format of the tournament came in for special praise from the bookmakers, which said the four-group cum knockout format meant "everything is far easier to follow than at the World Cup (in South Africa last year) where sides have often been left in curiously confusing predicaments regarding their potential advancement through the tournament."