T20 WORLD CUP: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Saturday’s two opening Super 12’s fixtures in the T20 World Cup. It’s AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA and ENGLAND v WEST INDIES both previewed with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA
MATCH OVERVIEW:
We’ve already had plenty of drama at the T20 World Cup, but we start the Super 12’s in style on Saturday with two incredible fixtures. All cricket bets are 0% Commission on BETDAQ Betting Exchange on Saturday too, so we should have a fantastic day ahead. We start the day in Abu Dhabi with Australia taking on South Africa. It’s fair to say both sides have had plenty of drama recently. South Africa have opted to leave out some of their stars, particularly Faf Du Plessis and Imran Tahir who both featured in CSK’s recent IPL win in the UAE. They got themselves in hot water over a Tweet leaving out Du Plessis and Tahir but only congratulating current South Africa players before they were forced to delete it.
It’s well publicised that there’s a lot of negative politics around the South Africa dressing room and it only ends with them losing their best players. AB de Villiers is another missing South African star who reached the IPL Playoffs with RCB. For Australia, their main issue is still a spinning wicket and scoring when the ball is turning. Bangladesh took advantage of that in their home conditions recently, and Australia have had issues in some of the warm up games. We saw a lot of spin in the IPL, and Australia will be one side hoping for better wickets! If they are going to go deep into the tournament, or indeed win it, they’re going to have to find a way to cope with spin.
You have to say this is a fascinating game to start the Super 12’s. For the loser, pressure will be heaped onto them and it will be the end of the world, but the reality is there’s plenty of time to bounce back. You get the feeling though that both sides need a win for confidence reasons though, so this is a massive game.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Obviously having the second part of the IPL in the UAE this year means we will be well used to the grounds and what conditions will be like. As I said in my preview at Sharjah yesterday, I would go into the World Cup with an open mind on the wickets. Just because it was tough to score and spinning in the IPL won’t mean it does the same here – we could easily have fresh wickets for the World Cup. Let’s wait and see. Day games have been very tricky for the bowlers in the heat, plus batting first has offered a slight edge too, so I would definitely bat first if I won the toss. If the conditions are better than expected batting wise, it gives the side batting first a chance to get advantage of the bowlers in the heat too.
RECOMMENDED BET:
As you would expect at the start of the tournament, a lot of games will have reasonably open markets. Both sides aren’t as good as they once were, and they have a lot of questions to answer. Warner hasn’t had a good year for example, and went through a lot of drama in the IPL being left out of the squad given the management issues. South Africa showed they aren’t that strong in Ireland, although they won the T20 series 3-0 they offered Ireland a lot of chances. From a betting point of view, which is obviously the most important issue, Australia are too short at 1.78. This is a 50/50 game between two sides with a lot of questions to answer, and South Africa are the value.
The Edge Says:
One point win South Africa to beat Australia at 2.26 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://bit.ly/BDQAusSA
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
I wouldn’t go too heavy in-running here given it’s the first Super 12 game of the tournament. I would like to see what batting conditions are like. As I said above, batting first offers a slight edge here and I would certainly look for a trade on the batting side in the first innings from 12 overs onwards. In the heat, the bowlers can easily struggle at the death here and if the side batting first have a good platform that’s where the game can be won. Apart from that, both sides have slightly dodgy batting line-ups and I wouldn’t be searching for trades on the batting side for long here.
ENGLAND v WEST INDIES
MATCH OVERVIEW:
We move to Dubai for the second game as England take on West Indies. These two sides are loaded with hitters and we should have plenty of drama in this one! England come in as the ODI World Cup Champions, however their side is more of a T20 side and you could argue they won the ODI World Cup by basically extending their T20 tactics. Eoin Morgan has completely changed the England setup for the better, with an attack at all costs approach. Yes, they have collapsed at times and continue to do so, but they overall outlook is positive for this England side and they come into the tournament as favourites.
When you look at this West Indies side you can see a lot of familiar faces. Chris Gayle, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell and Dwayne Bravo are all global T20 superstars, however they are getting older. Perhaps this is their final T20 World Cup for Gayle and Bravo given their age – can they produce the same level as we have seen in recent years? They starred at times in the IPL, and we all know how good West Indies can be. West Indies will swing for the ropes, it will be all or nothing, but there’s no doubt that they are a side to be afraid of.
West Indies will always have their issues coming into major tournament. They have long been issues with the board and the players. Remember Darren Sammy after West Indies won the 2016 World Cup, giving the winners speech knowing he would never play again as a result of what he said. England are without Stokes and have a captain in Morgan woefully out of form. He had a terrible IPL, and although he’s very important for this England side, can they carry an out-of-form batsman? A lot of questions to be answered here.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
In the IPL here recently, Dubai was definitely the best venue for scoring runs. I would suggest par was around 170, and perhaps that can be revised up with a fresh wicket and these two sides. Both sides have an excellent batting line-up and a bowling attack that can be hit-or-miss. England’s bowling is certainly their weakness, and we could easily see a high scoring game here. Watch out for dew, as that will certainly favour the side chasing.
RECOMMENDED BET:
Very similar thoughts can be applied to this game as the Australia v South Africa game earlier in the day. We should have a very close game here and perhaps it will be decided by conditions. If there’s a heavy dew, you’d certainly want to be on the side chasing. I can see both sides going all out attack, and the bat winning over the ball. Although I have a huge amount of respect for England because they are a top class side, without Stokes they do have some issues in the bowling department. They are a few overs light, and against the six hitters of West Indies that might cost them. I happy to have a small bet on West Indies at 2.3 which looks good value.
The Edge Says:
One point win West Indies to beat England at 2.3 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://bit.ly/BDQEngWI
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
You should wait and see what the wicket is like here before fully committing to an in-running strategy, but before the game starts I would lean towards the wicket being good for batting and having a high scoring game. I would be keen to get against both sides when bowling – England definitely have some overs where the part-time bowlers have to bowl, and if we have a West Indies batsmen set then we could see a lot of sixes. Those will be the overs to target for in-running, but other than that let’s see how the tournament starts. It might not be a bad trade to take on Morgan too who surely has an immense amount of pressure on his shoulders.
