New Zealand and Australia get down to business for the second time in their T20 series on Thursday and when they battle it out both teams will know the importance of the Dunedin encounter in terms of the destiny of the series.
New Zealand were dominant in the opening match on Monday and if they can find a win here they will move two up with three to play. Australia really need to bounce back strongly here if they are to retain a genuine hope of winning the series.
New Zealand
It is hard to call a performance perfect when a side is 19-3 after four overs but the one New Zealand delivered in that opening game was pretty close to it. Actually to be as dominant as they were overall given the start that they had to the match would have been very impressive at any time let alone in the first match of a series. While you could point out that their players have played a fair bit of T20 cricket recently, it was still an impressive feat.
That they made such a slow start means that there is even more to come from the Kiwis and the natural expectation is that a team comes on for the run so to speak, so it will be interesting to see if that is how they progress here. One thing we know about New Zealand is their bowlers are always going to fare well so if they do bat well then there is a lot to like about their chances. They are taking this format more seriously and it is showing.
Australia
While Australia will have been disappointed to be beaten so heavily in Christchurch, particularly from the position they had their hosts in early on in the match, they will have known that they are not at full strength in the game and would have been intrigued to see just what they had at their disposal. There were certainly good elements to go with from the first game, but as you would expect there were areas of improvement as well.
The main improvement must come in the death bowling. They went round the park a little too much at the end of the innings. The other thing they need to do is bat with some brains. I highlighted going into that first game that there is nobody who is happy to bat the innings and let the bigger hitters do their thing and with Finch, Philippe, Wade and Maxwell all gone before the end of the fifth over, their chances were done and dusted pretty early on.
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Team News
You would think it is a little early in the series for New Zealand to make changes with only two other men in the squad aside from the 11 they picked in Christchurch. They will want to involve Hamish Bennett and Mark Chapman at some point but may look to go closer to winning the series first.
Australia are more likely to make a change with Kane Richardson or Daniel Sams perhaps a little vulnerable after going round the park. Jason Behrendorff, Andrew Tye or Riley Meredith could all tighten up the bowling attack or Ashton Turner could provide a better lower order batting option.
Betting
I like over 13.5 sixes here. We saw 11 sixes in the opening match when both sides were at least three down in the powerplay which is generally when sixes come more at a premium as the innings rebuild takes a safety first approach. That was on a larger ground than this one at the Bay Oval where clearing the ropes looked comfortable in the recent Super Smash matches that were played on this ground. This being a day game will also help the sixes come along.
The other reason to expect more sixes in this match is that clean hitters of a cricket ball such as Martin Guptill, Jimmy Neesham, Aaron Finch, Josh Philippe, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Daniel Sams all batted in the first game and never hit a single six. For seven big hitters like that to go six-less again would take some doing. I’m expecting a high scoring match here and if the openers can build better platforms the sixes should flow at a decent rate and cover the 13.5 sixes line.
Tips
WON – Back Over 13.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
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