T20 WORLD CUP: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Wednesday’s T20 World Cup semi-final between ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

After nearly four weeks of drama, we’re down to four teams at the T20 World Cup as we start the Semi-Finals in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday! We have had some high class cricket, shocks, drama, heavy dew and big wins over the minnows – but now we’re down to the business end. India won’t be happy that they aren’t here, but you have to say we really have the top four sides in the competition in the Semi-Finals. We’re going to have two fantastic afternoons enjoying the games on BETDAQ Betting Exchange.

England have been the most impressive side in the tournament so far, but they don’t arrive here unbeaten as South Africa managed to defend 189/2 at Sharjah in the final group game in Group 1. While New Zealand took a huge step forward to qualification when beating India, and they managed to hold their nerve on Sunday here to beat Afghanistan. All the hype has been around England, they are ODI World Champions after all, however I strongly suspect that New Zealand will give them big problems here. New Zealand have definitely been underrated by the market at this World Cup, as I said many times – they only lost the ODI World Cup in a Super Over and they are World Test Champions. They are a top class side.

While the England batting line-up have been firing, you have to feel that New Zealand’s bowling attack will be their toughest test to date. England also had Jason Roy on a crutch by the end of the South Africa game, and Tymal Mills is also ruled out of the tournament. After a very strong start, England are slightly on the backfoot coming into this game. Everything seems to be going well for New Zealand – this one is going to be a cracker!

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

As I said the weekend, it’s actually very hard to say what a par score here. I was hoping we would see what par might be with West Indies v Australia or Afghanistan v New Zealand but I still feel I don’t know what a true par score is. West Indies scored 157/7 and Australia chased it down in 16.2 overs. We have had a lot of minnow games here too that have been one sided. The one thing to focus on here is the dew – if we get a very heavy dew then that makes bowling very tough and I have to say the tournament has favoured the chasing sides too much to be honest. Even when the side batting first have scored a very big score, the chasing side has always had a pretty good chance. For example, Sri Lanka traded odds on from 1.06 when chasing against England – and England probably should have won when chasing South Africa the other day too. There’s no question what to do here if you win the toss.

RECOMMENDED BET:

I’m a huge fan of this England one day team and the way they go about playing cricket, however I have to back New Zealand here at 2.66. I just can’t have that much of a difference between the two sides in what should be a very close game. Especially when you consider the advantage of bowling first, and I know that can go either way with a toss of a coin, but before anything here I make this a very close game with England marginal favourites. New Zealand have an excellent chance with their bowlers in good form – if they can start well let’s see what this England middle order can do under immense pressure.

The Edge Says:
Two points win New Zealand to beat England at 2.66 with BETDAQ Exchange.

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

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

As I mentioned above, I feel the best in-running strategy here will be to focus on trades on the chasing side. England had that advantage at the weekend over South Africa and still conceded a big score however, so the best option in that regard might be to wait until the chase starts. That being said, I’m looking forward to supporting this New Zealand attack. They have been fantastic in the tournament so far – they kept India down to 110/7 for example and if they bowl first they can go really well here. I’m not sure what England will do with the open spot at the top of the order with Jason Roy out, but that changes up their batting line-up and their middle order can be flaky. England will likely win the Final if they can get past New Zealand, but I can really see New Zealand doing well. You will probably have to fight the market because England are heavy favourites, but I expect a close game here!