The third match of the Cricket World Cup 2019 sees the tournament cross the border into Wales for the first time where New Zealand and Sri Lanka will get their campaigns underway at the Cardiff Wales Stadium.
These two teams were beaten in the last two finals of this competition so they have previous in the event and an initial victory for either here would provide the platform for another successful campaign.
AllSportsBetting Podcast
As with all the matches in this World Cup, Kev and Steve Wyss have previewed the encounter in a new episode of the AllSportsBetting podcast. Click play below to listen to them discuss the bets.
New Zealand
Nobody has really spoken much about New Zealand going into this tournament but when a side has two genuine world class stars like they do they will probably feel a little aggravated that they are not more in the discussion. That could only act as motivation to showcase their skills and ensure everyone remembers them when the tournament is over so it will be interesting to see how Williamson and Boult go here in particular.
I guess one of the reasons why New Zealand aren’t being spoken of more favourably is the fact that they do clearly have weaknesses in their set up. They look to lack a little bit of firepower with the bat in their middle order and there is a clear difference in class between their new ball bowlers and the rest. The lack of a top class spinner is one of the reasons for that so it will be imperative in this tournament that they take wickets early.
Sri Lanka
The perception of Sri Lankan cricket right now is that it is a mess so the 15 men selected for this tournament have the opportunity to highlight how that is not the case. This tournament might have come at the wrong time though. It is in conditions where even in their pomp they didn’t always show their best cricket and at a time where they are in transition but far too early in the piece to be comfortable.
If Sri Lanka are going to do anything in this tournament they are going to have to be at their very best with the bat because you sense they are going to struggle with the ball. Unless they get on some incredibly dry wickets there isn’t a whole lot in their bowling attack to suggest they will be able to cope in this tournament. The other thing they need to guard against is collapsing to the short ball like we saw Pakistan do.
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Team News
New Zealand initially had a doubt over Tom Latham for this match but he has been passed fit to play. They will need to choose between Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner while Matt Henry’s audition in the last warm up match makes his place vulnerable.
We know Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews and Lasith Malinga will play for Sri Lanka but the other eight men and the order they appear in is open to debate. Lahiru Thirimanne is being tipped as the other opener.
Betting
Until we know just how bad Sri Lanka are or otherwise in this tournament this isn’t the easiest match to bet on. It was much easier until the West Indies plundered over 400 against New Zealand in a warm up match on Tuesday. While warm up matches are not serious affairs the human mind can only cope with so much and getting belted all round a ground isn’t ideal preparation for this so my main bet is going to be in the sixes market. The line here is over 8.5 sixes and historically that would have looked about right but there is just enough juice in it to lure me into the over. Sri Lanka aren’t totally stupid. They load their side with batsmen, all-rounders and bowlers who can biff it to attempt to be competitive while New Zealand bat deep. Down the ground this venue is tiny and I’m going to take the chance we get a few lusty hits and cover this line.
It takes a pretty special performance from down the order to make me take notice and remember it two months on but that is exactly what Isuru Udana did when he took South Africa to the cleaners in a T20 match in Centurion back in March. From that moment onwards I had it in me to look for the opportunity to get him onside and this could be the time. New Zealand have the new ball attack to make mincemeat of the Sri Lankan openers and if the middle order aren’t up for it, it could easily be left to someone down the innings to have some fun and top score. Clearly there is more than an ounce of the speculative about this one but 33/1 is a fair enough price.
Tips
Back Over 8.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with BetVictor
Back it here:
Back I.Udana Top Sri Lanka Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 34.00 with Sky Bet
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