The latest Chappell-Hadlee series begins on Sunday when Australia host New Zealand in the first of three ODIs. The opening match comes from Sydney and obviously whoever wins will know that they will go one up with just two to play so in terms of winning the series this is an important opener.
Australia
In terms of recent results in this format of the game you wouldn’t think it but Australia are still the best side in the world in ODI cricket. We can ignore their battering in South Africa recently when they left their first choice bowling attack at home. I fully expect them to be bang on it in this series.
Unlike in Test cricket where they are struggling to find a top quality all-rounder at number six, the Aussies are well balanced with the bat and the ball in this format and the number of options they have in their bowling department makes them very tough to beat because if someone is having a bad game they can call on another bowler to do a job.
New Zealand
The World Cup finalists will know they can beat Australia because they did it in their home conditions in that tournament in one of the matches of the event but when it came to the final in Melbourne they were never at the races so that could well act as motivation for them in this series.
In order to go well in Australia they will need to put up significant amounts of runs because the wickets aren’t likely to favour the bowlers and swing is likely to be minimal. Without a top class spinner to reduce the run rate you would think it will be up to the batsmen to get the Kiwis on top, if they manage to get on top.
Team News
Australia have Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood back in their squad after they both missed the trip to South Africa recently. Glenn Maxwell is in line to play despite his controversial comments about Matthew Wade but Hilton Cartwright has been released for Sheffield Shield duty and won’t play.
New Zealand are without Ross Taylor for this series as he has had to have an operation on his eye. Corey Anderson isn’t here either while they have decided to leave out Ish Sodhi too. Lockie Ferguson is getting big raps and could be thrown into the fold.
Sydney Cricket Ground
This famous ground has undergone a fair bit of renovation in recent times but it is no stranger to hosting ODI cricket. This will be the 153rd match on the ground with Australia featuring in 127 of the previous games. They have an excellent record in them too with 83 wins to 38 defeats with six no results. New Zealand have only won seven of their 28 games here.
The wicket has a history and a tradition for spinning in the longer format of the game but in the one day stuff it is usually a batting paradise and this early in the summer it would be a surprise if this pitch isn’t full of runs. The outfield is usually spot on so a high scoring match awaits us.
Betting
I’m keeping my powder dry on the match betting front until I’ve seen how competitive New Zealand may or may not be in this environment. Those who are confident in their competitiveness could certainly do a lot worse than the 9/4 on offer for the visitors to win but Australia aren’t an easy side to take on.
We’ve been going well with the sixes betting in the South African T20 recently though and I’m inclined to have a go on the market here too with the 11.5 sixes line looking a touch on the high side to me.
If you look through the recent history you would suggest the line is pretty much on the mark and maybe a touch on the low side but with Latham, Williamson and Nicholls in New Zealand’s top four they might not be hitting as many sixes and you would expect while one or two of Australia’s established and experienced batsmen are under a bit of pressure so the match has a feel of an unders to it in terms of sixes on that line.
Tips
Back Under 11.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016
