THE EDGE: The Edge previews the Champions Trophy opener between Pakistan v New ZealandI with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
Pakistan v New Zealand
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The Champions Trophy arrives on Wednesday – this is going to be a massive test for ODI cricket and cricket in Pakistan. We have a feast of action coming up on BETDAQ Betting Exchange; the Champions Trophy is of course quickly followed by the Indian Premier League! The ICC have had to overcome a lot of hurdles to get the tournament here; not least having to deal with the fact that India won’t play in Pakistan. India will play their games in Dubai, but Pakistan are the official hosts, and we kick off the tournament with the home side hosting New Zealand. The security around the sides and every game will be absolutely massive after what happened in 2009 to Sri Lanka, and after so long without International cricket in Pakistan, the hosts will want to impress.
Outside of the fact that this is the first time Pakistan will host an ICC Tournament since 1996, this is a massive test for ODI cricket in general. How Test cricket is going with TV numbers is a big debate for another day, but ODI cricket has seemingly become the un-loved child of cricket. Test cricket has all the history, T20 cricket has all the current eyeballs, while ODI cricket has mostly been criticised. The ICC are to blame for this too – they creating the ODI Super League which was aimed at given International ODI’s importance throughout the whole year in a league table – sides mostly ignored it though given the top sides were pretty much certain to finish in the World Cup spots, then the ICC binned it off after one cycle.
When the cricket begins though, all the noise outside is forgotten about. Pakistan would dearly love to win this tournament given they have had to put up with India effectively saying the country isn’t good enough to play in. New Zealand have had a lot of issues this year too; we have two sides here who can be brilliant or woeful, and the way things have turned out this is probably the biggest game for both of them at the Group stage! What a way to start a historic tournament.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We begin the tournament in Karachi, and Pakistan have hosted a lot of International cricket here after their exile. The sides actually played a Tri-Series Final here on Valentine’s Day as a warm-up for this tournament. Pakistan posted 242 all out and New Zealand chased it with 28 balls to spare. They also played South Africa here in that Tri-Series; South Africa scored a whopping 352/5 and Pakistan chased it! With the way security has been in Pakistan, sides have mainly stayed at one venue. New Zealand will know conditions well here having played six ODI’s in 2023 (three in January and three in May). Scoring conditions were generally good, but you do get the odd low scoring game here – I would have an open mind on what a par score is and see what conditions are like over the early overs.
RECOMMENDED BET:
We should have a cracking game here; as I said above the way things have worked out with the groups you could essentially call this a de-facto Quarter-Final. The sides won’t be saying that of course, but it’s a long way back for the loser anyway. Pakistan come into the game as the favourites at 1.8 with New Zealand 2.2. We have two very similar sides here – very talented with a lot of match winners – however, disaster is never far away with either batting unit. I feel on balance New Zealand have the marginally better bowling line-up here, even allowing for home advantage for Pakistan, and I’m happy to have a small bet on New Zealand to start the tournament.
The Edge Says:
One point win New Zealand to beat Pakistan at 2.2 with Betdaq Betting Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/CTPaNe
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
As I said above, we have seen a range of scores here – even last week we saw scores between 350 and 250! I would assume Cricket Pakistan will want to put their best foot forward and produce a decent batting surface; however the ICC usually takes control of these events. Chasing has worked here in the last week; however it was a slight edge to bat first in the past when New Zealand toured. I wouldn’t have a set in-running strategy heading into this one, I would wait and see what conditions are like. If we do get very good batting conditions, then I would focus on opening a trade on the batting side in the last ten overs of the first innings, and then I’d consider switching to the chasing side at the innings break.
