The second T20 international between New Zealand and West Indies opens up another busy day of cricket on Sunday and it does so in the gloriously picturesque setting of the Bay Oval out in Mount Maunganui.
New Zealand go into the encounter knowing that if they win the match they will win the series whereas the reigning world champions in this format of the game will be all too aware that they must win if they are to force a decider.
New Zealand
Considering they hadn’t played together for almost a year, New Zealand will have been pretty happy with their performance in the opening match of the series. When you then add into the mix that they have rested their best two players for this series that will be even more the case and bodes very well for them for the future, both in this series and looking forward to the next World Cup which is beginning to loom on the horizon.
If there is an area where they can improve then it is right up front with the ball. West Indies were away from them in the opening game but then they completely collapsed which helped New Zealand bring them back. It is a risky strategy to rely on that too often. They probably won’t be able to rely on a five wicket haul from Lockie Ferguson either so they could do with their bowling attack just tightening up a little as a whole.
West Indies
The West Indies side won’t need telling where they went wrong in the opening match. Having got off to a flier they then went missing for a couple of overs and it really cost them. In a way were that to happen here it probably wouldn’t be as costly in that such a high score isn’t required on this bigger ground although that also isn’t a strategy that is recommended. If they can put more partnerships together they will build a very daunting score.
The other thing West Indies need to get in the habit of doing ahead of the World T20 next year is finishing teams off when they have them by the throat like they did when New Zealand were 63-4 in the seventh over. Teams at this level really shouldn’t be losing from there so that will have disappointed them. It might be that letting those positions slip was purely down to rust so they deserve a bit of slack but a repeat here would be disappointing.
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Team News
New Zealand have no major need to make changes to their side and with the series not won or anything it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise were they to be unchanged in this outing. Hamish Bennett could be vulnerable if they do make a change after going the distance in the first game.
You would think West Indies would want to give as many players as possible a go in this series for a reward for surviving bubble life as much as anything else but they might want a confidence boosting win before rotating.
Betting
I expected a high scoring match in Auckland in the first game and I’m not anticipating anything too different here in the second game even though we’ve now moved to Mount Maunganui which is bigger dimensions wise than Eden Park. Although this ground is bigger than Eden Park it is all relative as it isn’t exactly huge, it is just bigger than a rugby ground. I actually think the boundaries will continue to be peppered but because the ground is a bit bigger I’ll take the boundaries line rather than the sixes one.
The line is 42.5 which sounds pretty high but given the emphasis on scoring runs and the power and boundary hitting ability that these two teams have in their batting line ups it really isn’t that high. The outfield here is usually lightning fast so the batsmen don’t need to clobber the ball to get it to the ropes and with this being a day game there will be no dew slowing everything down. I think the over looks a good bet here.
Tips
WON – Back Over 42.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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