T20 WORLD CUP: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Thursday’s T20 World Cup match between Oman v Scotland with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

It’s crunch time at the T20 World Cup on Thursday and games don’t come much bigger than this for Oman and Scotland. There’s no doubt that this is going to be an immensely high pressure game, and we could see some crazy in-play swings on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. Of course, the Bangladesh v PNG game will also have an impact here. Oman and Scotland have the luxury of playing second today so they’ll know exactly what they need to do. For Oman it’s straightforward – they need to win, but not only do they need to win they need to win in such a way that their net run rate is above Scotland and Bangladesh (assuming they beat PNG).

For Scotland, of course they have to go into this game with the mindset of winning, however they have the luxury of having four points after two wins from two games and even if Bangladesh and Oman win today, they can only manage four points. At the moment, Oman have the bet run rate but there is basically nothing between Scotland and Bangladesh – after all the headlines from Scotland beating Bangladesh, they can still easily crash out. I would suggest looking at the net run rate situation if Scotland lose here they are out. So, it is a must win game!

PNG have been well off the pace, and you’d assume Bangladesh will hammer them. That will put them ahead of Scotland, and then Oman just need to win given their net run rate is higher than Scotland. Looking back, PNG getting so close to Scotland was a major issue for them. I have to say, what a brilliant situation for drama. What a day of cricket ahead.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

This will be the last day in Oman, and to be honest I would forgive anyone who still didn’t know what a par score was. We started to see some good cricket on Tuesday here with Scotland scoring 165/9 and Bangladesh posting 153 all out. It definitely looks hard to bat in the second game, and we could have a low scoring thriller here. Oman looked like chasing Bangladesh’s 153 and they traded close to 1.8 at one point in the chase after hitting 1.13! Based on what I saw on Tuesday, I would suggest 155/160 is par but given the pressure here I wouldn’t be surprised to see either team struggle in a 145 chase.

RECOMMENDED BET:

Oman have been really impressive to date. They hammered PNG and although in the end they lost by 26 runs to Bangladesh, they gave them a scare and in general their batting has been impressive. I know Scotland went further than giving Bangladesh a scare to beat them, but with associate cricket everyone can literally beat everyone. I make this a real 50/50 game and I have to lay Scotland from a value point of view. Both sides have been great thus far, but I can’t have Scotland here at around 1.68 – I fully expect a very close game here.

The Edge Says:
Three points lay (liability) Scotland to beat Oman at 1.68 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange

View the market here -> https://bit.ly/BDQOmaSco

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

Given batting has looked more difficult in the second game here, I would try to stay away from any major trades on the batting side. There will of course be moments of good momentum in the market to support the batting side, but I wouldn’t stay in the market for long. Perhaps the best time might be to support the side batting first in the latter overs, maybe between over 12 and 15 heading into the final five if they have a good base. I wouldn’t be massively keen on the side chasing if the score is over 150 given the pressure, but I do feel Scotland might be too short for the whole game – Oman seem underrated looking at the market.