After dominating the opening ODI in Sydney on Sunday, Australia head to the capital on Tuesday knowing another win will seal the Chappell-Hadlee series with a match to spare. New Zealand need to regroup quickly if they are to have a chance of retaining the trophy so we should get another competitive match from these two sides.
Australia
If you look at the margin of victory in the opening match you would think Australia dominated things but it could have been so much different had New Zealand gone for a review when Steve Smith was bang to rights. They didn’t and in the end lost quite convincingly but Australia shouldn’t think they are mere formalities in this one.
The good thing for the Aussies is that Aaron Finch was out first ball in Sydney and you wouldn’t think that will happen too often so they have even more to come with the bat. The other positive was how disciplined they were with the ball even when Martin Guptill was going mental on them and that will stand them in good stead here.
New Zealand
The Kiwis will probably be ruing the decision not to review Smith’s dismissal for a while if they don’t get themselves back into the series but at least it showed they were more competitive with the ball than the scoreline suggests. They still have one or two bowling options to come in and bolster them in that department too.
Martin Guptill’s innings was the obvious highlight for New Zealand in the first game and if they can find a couple of players to bat with him they aren’t without a chance in this match although with the all-rounders starting as high as four their batting does look a genuine batsman short without Ross Taylor.
Team News
James Faulkner was a surprise exclusion for the opening match but with Australia cruising to victory it is hard to see him coming in here. Glenn Maxwell’s absence was less surprising given the controversy in the build up to the game and he may have to sit this one out too.
Lockie Ferguson was expensive on debut for the Kiwis and with this being a must win match for them you would think that Tim Southee will be coming in for someone. Ferguson would appear the most obvious bowler to make way. Henry Nicholls is on the sidelines if they want to boost their batting but that appears unlikely.
Manuka Oval
This will be the ninth time a 50 over international has been played on this ground. It staged some high scoring matches in the World Cup last year and six of the eight first innings here have seen the side batting rollick along at more than six and over so the batsmen should enjoy themselves in this one.
Australia have played three times on this ground in total and have won all three, each by pretty significant margins. New Zealand will be getting their first taste of action on this ground but they will be familiar with what they see in terms of the smaller ground dimensions.
Betting
This series seems to have largely gone under the radar and for some reason not all of the usual markets are priced up everywhere although that might just be the short turnaround between the opening game and this one. It doesn’t make betting on the match easy though and there is just the one bet I like.
Aaron Finch was out first ball in Sydney but I’m prepared to put that behind him and take him to score more than 29.5 runs in this match. He has an excellent record here with scores of 38, 109 and 107 in his three innings here and prior to that first ball blob he was in pretty decent nick. He made a ton in the Sheffield Shield last week and scored well in the Matador One Day Cup with three half centuries in as many innings. Those statistics make me happy to ignore Sydney and take him to make 30 here.
Tips
Back A.Finch – Over 29.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2016
