After doing battle for the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy last month New Zealand and Australia will do it all again over the next week when they play three ODIs in six days at various spots in New Zealand.
Local rivalry is always good in any sport and these two tend to play it well so we should be in for a competitive three matches even allowing for the amount of cricket both nations have coming up.
Schedule
1st ODI: Jan 30 at Auckland
2nd ODI: Feb 2 at Napier
3rd ODI: Feb 5 at Hamilton
New Zealand
The Kiwis head into this series off the back of a pretty dominant time of it against Bangladesh but they will know they have something to find in order to win this series if the last series between these two teams is anything to go by. In that series an inability to contain Australia at the death and a lack of top level batsmen went against them.
Although they were dominant against Bangladesh the New Zealand batting never really impressed or convinced and that would be a concern for them going into this series. In these conditions though their bowlers know how to get the job done which might make up for any batting struggles.
Australia
Australia have built on that 3-0 win over New Zealand with another emphatic series win against Pakistan over the last fortnight. They won the last three matches of that series to come out 4-1 winners so they will be heading to New Zealand full of confidence even if they are going to be without some big players.
Australia got better and better as the series went on with the bat and with the ball they were always on top and they showed why they are the reigning world champions and currently the best side in the world in this format. A repeat of that will make them very tough to beat in this series.
Betting
With Steve Smith out of this series for Australia and a couple of others heading to India early I like New Zealand to win it but their batting is enough of a concern for me to avoid backing them.
Given that their batting is struggling their top series batsman market is an interesting one. New Zealand really didn’t get going with the bat in Australia which leads me to believe the value could be with a Ross Taylor who didn’t play in that series due to an eye issue.
Taylor has been in good touch since he returned from the eye operation with a couple of 80s in the domestic T20 and two half centuries in three innings in the Tests against Bangladesh. Given the issues his colleagues are having with the willow the 6/1 on Taylor offers plenty of appeal.
Tips
WON – Back R.Taylor Top New Zealand Series Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 7.00 with Unibet
Back him here:
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