THE EDGE: The Edge previews the first Cricket World Cup semi-final between INDIA v NEW ZEALAND with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
It’s crunch time at the Cricket World Cup on Betdaq Betting Exchange as we have the first Semi-Final on Wednesday. The group stages were very entertaining, especially after the tournament faced so much criticism in the early stages. Of course, the BCCI messed up the ticketing system with tickets going on sale so late; we had more than half empty stadiums watching some superb cricket. It was pretty much nailed on India would top the table for weeks, but New Zealand did have a late wobble for fourth. In fairness, it always looked like the top four would be involve India, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand since the first week or so of the tournament. We just had to decide the order.
India have been absolutely flawless so far. They went through the group stage unbeaten, and to be honest they didn’t even really have a scare. Their net run rate is massive – I said going into the South Africa game that they were already pretty much nailed on to finish top but there was a mental edge on offer in that game. India won by 243 runs – against a South African side who had smashed bowling attacks to all parts over the last month. The reality is India have been absolutely perfect; however now is the crunch time. One bad performance and it’s all for nothing.
New Zealand have had a different journey. They started the tournament with a bang by beating England; then everyone else beat them too! New Zealand put themselves in a strong position with four early wins but then lost four in a row. They lost to Pakistan and all other three sides in the Semi-Finals. You could say they only beat England from the top tier sides, and even then that wasn’t worth much in this tournament. They have so much experience and calm heads in these situations it’s hard to write them off, but India have been levels apart on the field.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
We’re back in Mumbai for the first Semi-Final, and we should have a packed house at Wankhede with India involved. Scoring has been very high here throughout the tournament, and it’s hard to see anything other than another high scoring game. Perhaps nerves will play a part, but conditions will definitely favour the bat over the ball. The first inning scores here have been 399/7 (won), 382/5 (won), 357/8 (won) and 291/5 (chased). India have won here, but New Zealand didn’t get to experience conditions; one wonders if that could prove important. Conditions have been very different to the IPL as the England players found out; you definitely want to bat first here – and then put a 350+ score on the board. 300 won’t be enough.
RECOMMENDED BET:
You have to respect the fact that New Zealand have a superb record at the ODI World Cup, and they bring a huge amount of experience to these situations. So do India of course, and then they have all the IPL pressure moments too. There’s a huge amount of pressure on India; they are basically expected to win the tournament now and New Zealand can play attacking cricket with no pressure. That might bring the sides closer together, but everything is working for India at the moment. Their batting and bowling is firing; they all look in the form of their lives and it’s hard to see past them. I feel 1.39 is worth taking, but I’m not going to go crazy with the stakes.
The Edge Says:
Two points win India to beat New Zealand at 1.39 with Betdaq Exchange.
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/IndNwz
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
You could say that New Zealand were the side who got closest to India in the group stage. India won by four wickets, which is still a good margins with two overs spare in the chase but they hammered everyone else! Their next closest was 6 wickets or 100 runs – huge margins. The Indian bowling line-up is in a perfect place at the moment, and they also have their home conditions too. I do feel batting first will be a big edge here; that’s the way the games have gone here and it’s tough to deal with conditions in the field with the Mumbai heat. I would be very confident on India if they bat first, and feel New Zealand would be worth a trade if they bat first but given how strong the Indian bowling has been I would reduce stakes with that trade.
