As convincing a performance as you will see from England on Friday set up a deciding match in their T20 series against New Zealand with the finale taking place on Sunday as both sides head to Auckland looking for the spoils.
This has been a rollercoaster of a series to date and you would expect both teams to be determined to play their best cricket in this outing. If that happens we should be in for a cracking contest over the course of the day.
New Zealand
It was a poor performance in Napier for New Zealand, there is no getting away from that, but where their concern might come from is the fact that England coughed up the third game of the series and had they not done that the tourists would already have secured the spoils and this would be little more than a dead rubber. New Zealand need to dust themselves down and get back to doing what they do best here.
You couldn’t say with any authority that New Zealand have batted brilliantly at any stage in the series but if they are going to get over the line in this decider now would be a pretty good time to start. The bright side is that in the main they have bowled well in the series, although even then they just took a monster battering with the ball last time out. This is a real test of their character as a result of that.
England
I was critical of England heading into the last match for some sloppy bits of play in the two games before that which threatened to end their chances of winning the series so credit to them for delivering such a good performance in Napier. The good thing for them is there is still an area to improve too. They were ordinary in the first four overs with the bat even though they posted more than 240 so if they can fire from the first over watch out for them.
There are improvements left in them in the field as well. A number of dropped catches have gone down in this series from English fielders and in a final like this they will need to be as close to perfect with the ball as they can be. If they do deliver a complete performance in this deciding match then not only are they going to be tough to stop in it but they will lay a marker down ahead of the World T20.
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Team News
Jimmy Neesham missed the Napier contest because of illness so New Zealand will hope that he is fit for this deciding match. Daryl Mitchell will most likely miss out should that be the case. Scott Kuggeleijn could also come in.
You wouldn’t think England will be in a rush to change a side which has just delivered such a high quality performance but if they do want to switch it might be that James Vince gets another go with Dawid Malan getting the day off after a wonderful series.
Betting
I was hoping to get on the boundaries or the sixes in this match because we all know how short Eden Park is boundary size wise and as we’ve seen in the last couple of matches between these two sides the batting power that they possess is really beginning to come to the fore but sadly there are relatively few lines available which means I have to look elsewhere for a bet.
The one which catches my eye in particular is the performance of Tom Curran. The line is 24.5 which is actually quite low when you think about it. He is very good in the field so if he can take a catch he’ll only need one wicket which with him bowling in the powerplay and at the death should come around naturally. He might be needed to bat which would do the over no harm so that is going to be my bet in this one.
Tips
VOID – Back T.Curran’s Performance – Over 24.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with 888sport
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