WEDNESDAY T20 WORLD CUP: The Edge previews Semi-Final 1: New Zealand v South Africa with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Semi-Final 1: New Zealand v South Africa
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The T20 World Cup reaches its Semi-Final stage on Betdaq Betting Exchange this week! We have a cracking line-up too; no doubt all eyes will be on India v England in Semi-Final 2, but we kick it off with New Zealand v South Africa at Eden Gardens on Tuesday. While these two sides might not take the headlines this week, this should be a high quality game. South Africa enter this fixture having won all seven of their matches at the tournament; while New Zealand have been impressive at times too. There’s no doubt that South Africa come into the game as the favourites – they have beaten India after all and just look like they are in a superb place at the moment.
They have been absolutely devastating at times. They hammered India by 76 runs to snap a twelve-match T20 World Cup winning streak, then rolled West Indies by nine wickets. They are the form side of the tournament; they also lost the chokers tag by winning the last World Test Championship. New Zealand have been steady, but the wheels did come off at the death against England – obviously with the South African batting in such a good place at the moment, you’d have to worry about that. These two sides have already met at this World Cup, back in the group stage in what was effectively a battle for top spot in Group D. South Africa won that one comfortably by seven wickets. South Africa have actually now won five consecutive T20 World Cup matches against New Zealand.
New Zealand are past masters at delivering when it matters; you do feel though that they will have to produce a performance we have yet to see from them at this tournament. From a South African point of view, surely the plan is to not change anything. They are firing at the moment – as always with South Africa; the big question is can they handle the big pressure moments?
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
Eden Gardens will be absolutely rocking, even without India involved. This is a cracking venue for T20 cricket, and it’s usually high scoring too. It has been a superb batting venue throughout this tournament, and obviously a big factor to monitor here is dew. That usually gives a slight edge to the chasing side. The first inning scores here have been 182/5 (won), 207/4 (won), 152 all out (chased), 202/7 (won), 165/6 (won) and 195/4 (chased). I do feel the key game was here at the weekend; India chasing down 195. The other games involved smaller nations, so it’s hard to fully get what a par score has been but surely after seeing the weekend you’d want 200+ if you’re made bat first. The winning captain at the toss will surely opt to chase.
RECOMMENDED BET:
It’s no surprise that South Africa come into the game as the odds on favourites; they are trading 1.67 at the time of writing. They have been dominant throughout this whole tournament; a win against India under their belts. I do feel they will have to under-perform a little to lose here. We have seen that before in knockout games with South Africa, but this squad does seem different – they don’t have as much fear as squads previously when they carried the chokers tag. New Zealand have the ability to produce in knockout cricket. These are a seasoned, calm, experienced group of cricketers who know how to win close games at major tournaments. However, as I said above, I do feel they need to produce something we haven’t seen and I’m happy to take the 1.67 on South Africa.
The Edge Says:
Two points win South Africa to beat New Zealand at 1.67 with Betdaq Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/WCSoNe
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
The toss is absolutely critical here in my opinion. Given what we know about dew and what we saw Sunday, surely there’s a big edge for the chasing side here. I don’t think it will go as far as to decide the game, but there’s definitely an advantage. Of course, on the flip side with good batting conditions – I’d assume a decent first innings score and the added pressure of that. India dealt with that pressure well at the weekend. In that game, I said it was key to support the batters in either innings over the bowlers, and that worked nicely – I do feel that will be the right approach in this game as well.
