THURSDAY T20 WORLD CUP: The Edge previews India v Zimbabwe with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
India v Zimbabwe
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The T20 World Cup Super 8 continues on Betdaq Exchange ! Defending champions India face Zimbabwe in Chennai on Thursday, and it’s fair to say that nearly every cricket fan will be expecting a win for India here! This is a must win game for India after losing their Super 8 opener to South Africa; they blew them away in Ahmedabad on Sunday evening, bowling India out for just 111 chasing 188. It was a hammering that ended India’s twelve match winning streak at T20 World Cups and sent shockwaves through the entire tournament. Everyone might start to believe they can beat the hot favourites on home soil now.
The way the Proteas tore through India’s batting line-up was very impressive. I moaned about the ICC pre-seeding the Super 8 stage and all the Group winners ending up in the same Super 8 Super. India will be thankful the way it worked out, because now their must win games come against Zimbabwe and West Indies. Two sides that they will be overwhelming favourites to win. You could say that we had our drama – but now it’s over and India will still be in the Semi-Final’s, where the real business happens. That is probably unfair to Zimbabwe though, who are having a history making tournament. . They are in the Super 8 stage of a T20 World Cup for the first time ever, and they got here by pulling off arguably the greatest upset in T20 World Cup history by knocking out Australia in Colombo.
While they also managed to beat Sri Lanka at the Group stake, they were firmly put in their place in the opening Super 8 fixture. West Indies absolutely demolishing them by 107 runs in Mumbai on Monday – 254/6 was the second highest total in T20 World Cup history! But Zimbabwe have earned enormous respect, and nobody should be taking them lightly, but the betting markets are expecting a very easy win for India here.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We’re at the iconic Chepauk ground, one of India’s most historic venues and the home of the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, this is the final fixture here of the tournament. Chepauk has a well-earned reputation as a spin friendly, slow pitch that can be deceptive. The average first-innings score here in T20s tends to be in the 155-170 range, and spinners have accounted for over half the wickets taken at the ground historically. However, scoring conditions have been good at this tournament to date. The first inning scores have been 182/6 (chased), 173/6 (chased), 196/6 (won), 199/4 (won), 173/4 (chased) and 200/4 (won). Those scores would suggest a reasonably high scoring game.
RECOMMENDED BET:
There’s a massive gulf in class here on paper, and there’s no getting away from that. India, even with all the pressure they’re under and the South Africa result fresh in the memory, will still be massive favourites here. They are trading around 1.07 at the time of writing – it’s not often we see prices that short at this stage of the tournament. Zimbabwe have played some excellent cricket at the World Cup; I don’t think you can seriously back 1.07 here given allowing for the gulf in class. We’ll just have to wait and see does anything pop up in-play for a betting position.
The Edge Says: No Bet.
Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/WCInZi
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
Usually the toss is absolutely crucial here given what we know about this surface, but it’s played very well at the World Cup. Obviously the ICC oversee the wickets more so than when we get those real spinning tracks at the IPL. If India bat first and get off to a flying start in the powerplay, this will be a 1.01 train very quickly and there won’t be much to do. However, if Zimbabwe can get early wickets – and Muzarabani has the pace and skill to trouble any top order — things could get a little interesting. Zimbabwe’s bowlers won’t be overawed having already knocked out Australia in this very tournament. We basically need a little early collapse from India here to make the market competitive.
