THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Friday’s 1st T20 clash between New Zealand v India with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
As the fallout from the T20 World Cup rumbles on, New Zealand and India clash on Friday morning on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. Both these sides looked very strong in the group stage – indeed they both topped their groups but unfortunately got beaten by Pakistan and England in the Semi-Finals. New Zealand experienced some highs and lows throughout the tournament, and they took their defeat on the chin and moved on. It’s been a different story for India though, and we’re going to have a wholesale inquest and I’m sure some of the older generation will be asked to step aside.
It’s clear that every elite side has their flaws. Indeed even the World Cup winners England lost to Ireland in the group stage. Perhaps it was the manner of the defeat that has been the issue for team India, and Indian fans. The 168/6 from India looked a decent score at the innings break in fairness, indeed England weren’t favourites to chase it, but then they absolutely hammered India scoring 170/0 in 16 overs. It was an embarrassing defeat which has all the players blaming each other – the batters blamed the bowlers, the blowers blamed the batters – the board are probably going to try push out the likes of Sharma and Kohli now too.
With these two having a good run in the World Cup, you’d have to expect changes for this series. New Zealand have left out Martin Guptill and Trent Boult here, but there’s more going on there. Guptill lost his spot at the World Cup and of course Boult has opted out of a New Zealand central contact – other than that we have a strong New Zealand squad whereas it’s not the same for India. From the team that played in the World Cup Semi-Final, we have no KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ashwin, Axar Patel and Mohammed Shami. No wonder New Zealand come into the series as favourites.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We have the first T20 at Wellington, most cricket fans will remember the last time India played here in 2020 it finished a tie! That was a fantastic game with the sides locked on 165, then India won the Super Over. Australia played three T20’s here last year, and the first inning scores were 208/4 (won), 156/6 (won) and 142/8 (chased). Before Covid19 struck, England played here and the first inning score that day was 176/8. This ground is generally a good ground for scoring runs, and the team batting first has to be aiming for 165 or more to have a decent chance of defending. I don’t see a major edge to batting or bowling first, I’d probably bat because of the good batting conditions.
RECOMMENDED BET:
It’s hard to see past New Zealand here. They have a much stronger squad and they have their home conditions. I’m going to keep stakes low here though because even though New Zealand have a strong looking squad, we’re so close off the back of the World Cup we could see some players rested still – let’s wait and see what XI New Zealand name. The second India XI play a lot these days because of the busy schedule, and we have saw them concede high totals in T20 – they went for a lot of runs in Ireland this summer for example – they still won the game but they have much more difficult opposition now. New Zealand have some excellent batting talent, and I expect that’s where the game is won. Conditions should favour power hitting, and if India don’t bowl in the right areas we could see a very high score from New Zealand or a quick chase.
The Edge Says:
One point win New Zealand to beat India at 1.88 with Betdaq Exchange.
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/NZInd
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
First thing to do here is to keep an eye on the team news because we’re liely going to see a market reaction to that news. It’s only been days after the World Cup, so do expect some changes. Obviously we can see a whole host of players missing from the Indian squad and on paper they might have a batter or bowler light – that being said they have a wealth of talent in T20 these days. I would expect conditions to favour the batting side here, so I wouldn’t spend long looking for trades on either bowling side. The scores recently have been high, and I would look for a trade on the side who bats first – I’d expect a decent score, and then trade out at the innings break. I’m looking forward to taking on the Indian bowling when we get the chance in either innings.
