England have the opportunity to take a real stranglehold on their T20 series with New Zealand on Sunday when the two sides clash for the second time in the five game roadshow, with the action moving to Wellington.
New Zealand were comprehensively outclassed in the opening match of the series and haven’t had a huge amount of time to put things right but they need to produce something if they are going to get back on level terms.
New Zealand
From the opening powerplay when they were subdued or restricted with the bat, New Zealand were rarely competitive in the opening game. You could argue they did well to get up to 150 but at no stage did it look like being enough and given how shot shy they were up top it allowed Eoin Morgan to dominate proceedings in the field. They must find a way to attack initially and make the England captain go to plan B and C.
The other thing which was a concern for the Kiwis in that first game was how easy England were able to find the boundaries, especially off the spinners. That is something that needs to be looked at so there is plenty for New Zealand to work on. They could do with looking at their batting order because it looked light in Christchurch and the batsmen they did have, they looked like they used them in the wrong order.
England
Given that they have left a number of senior players at home for this series, England must have been delighted with how they performed in the opening match, and if places in the squad for the World T20 next year are up for grabs here then a number of men did their hopes no harm whatsoever. The key will be to maintain the quality they showed in Christchurch, particularly when they come under pressure, which I would imagine may well happen here on a small ground.
When you think that Lewis Gregory neither batted nor bowled in the opening match and England still won at a canter, it shows what they have left in the hutch should they need it. That is an excellent position to start a series in. You would expect their batting to showcase more power as the series goes along, and with competition for places beginning to bring the best out of their bowling attack, all is looking well with the 50 over world champions.
Place 5 accumulators either in a Boylesports shop or online and get an acca free! Click the image above to bet. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
New Zealand need to find another batsman from somewhere so it could be time to bring Jimmy Neesham in with Scott Kuggeleijn potentially vulnerable after a poor outing with the ball in the previous match.
England named a number of uncapped players in their squad for this series so it will be all about when they play them here. That means we will see Tom Banton, Saqib Mahmood and Matt Parkinson at some point. Mahmood could feature here with this small ground not favouring spin too much.
Betting
Given the dominance England showed in the first match the temptation would be to back them to come out on top here but I’m all too aware that this is a small ground which will take a lot of defending so that puts me off getting involved in the match outcome in any way. I don’t so much mind that though because one of the side markets stands out in this game.
Although New Zealand barely hit the ball off the square in the powerplay in Christchurch, they still ran up seven sixes in their innings and so you’ve got to think there is a lot more to come from them in that department. England have plenty of big hitting stored away too so the 12.5 sixes line looks very low for this match. There were 11 on a much bigger ground in Christchurch and just a repeat of what we saw there will accommodate for enough sixes on the over here. It is a small ground, a good pitch and the weather is set perfect. Over has to be the play.
Tips
WON – Back Over 12.5 sixes for a 6/10 stake at 1.75 with 888sport
Back it here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
