THE EDGE: The Edge previews the second Cricket World Cup semi-final between AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
We have a fascinating Semi-Final on BETDAQ Betting Exchange at the Cricket World Cup on Thursday. Australia and South Africa clash in Eden Gardens with so much on the line. If you believe in the age old cricketing tale of Australia win knock out games and South Africa choke, then there’s only one winner! This South African team have been exceptionally impressive throughout the tournament, and they deserved their second spot. However, they took an absolute hammering from India in their second last game which must have hurt their confidence. They were beating teams by huge margins with their batting; then India won by 243 runs!
After a beating like that, it was nice for South Africa to bounce back and beat Afghanistan – especially because they chased. Heading into the Indian game I noted in my preview that they only times they had chased was when they collapsed against South Africa and then barely crawled over the line against Pakistan. There’s no doubt that South Africa have been better when batting first, and I would suggest they need to do that here. For Australia, they will feel that they have a little mental edge now we are at the knockouts. They have a history of getting it done at this stage, even though South Africa hammered them in the group stage.
Australia finished with the same amount of points in the end as South Africa, but they will be full of confidence coming into this game. They lost their opening two games of the tournament against India and South Africa, and since then they’ve won seven in a row. You can’t get better momentum than that! Of course they have had crazy moments; who could ever forget that Glenn Maxwell innings against Afghanistan. We should have a cracking game here; the two sides are very evenly matched on paper and it will be fascinating to see how it plays out.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
The second Semi-Final takes place at Eden Gardens, and it will be interesting to see what kind of crowd we get there. We all know that there has been issues with the selling of tickets at this World Cup, but Indian fans always say that the ground facilities at Eden Gardens aren’t great. Will they turn up to a World Cup Semi-Final without India? That will be interesting, especially with all the chat about the 50 overs format at the moment. This is usually a high scoring venue, but it didn’t start like that at this World Cup – the last two games have had score of over 300. The first inning scores have been 229 all out (won), 204 all out (chased), 326/5 (won) and 337/9 (won). I think batting first will be key, especially in a big game
RECOMMENDED BET:
This truly is a fascinating game ahead. As I said above, the two sides are very matched. It’s interesting to see Australia as the clear favourites – currently trading 1.8 at the time of writing. You can’t knock the fact that they have been very impressive coming into this Semi-Final and they have been on an excellent run, however I would have the sides closer together in the betting. I am worried about South Africa chasing in a high pressure game though, so I would only back them if they bat first. They have batted superbly when they have had first dig, and they should have good conditions too.
The Edge Says:
Two points win South Africa (if they bat first) to beat Australia at 2.2 with Betdaq Exchange.
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/SouAus
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
While both sides have the same record, they have been very impressive. Obviously South Africa had that slip up against Netherlands but their record batting first is very impressive. As I mentioned above, I think that will be key to their chances here. That being said, I would say it’s an edge for both sides batting first – the toss will be massive here. My main trade will be supporting the side who bats first, with a view to trading out at the innings break. After that I think it’s all about momentum trading as both sides look evenly matched to me.
