England demolished Australia in an ODI series recently and now they will look to do something similar against New Zealand when the two sides embark on a five game showdown on Sunday.
These two sides are fine exponents of the 50 over game so we should get a decent showing and a hugely competitive series over the next couple of weeks with both sides eager to lay down an early marker ahead of the World Cup next year.
Schedule
1st ODI: Feb 25 at Hamilton
2nd ODI: Feb 28 at Mount Maunganui
3rd ODI: Mar 3 at Wellington
4th ODI: Mar 7 at Dunedin
5th ODI: Mar 10 at Christchurch
New Zealand
New Zealand were finalists in the last World Cup playing an aggressive brand of cricket and while they don’t play quite so on the front foot in 50 overs these days with the likes of Brendon McCullum and Luke Ronchi a thing of the past they remain a formidable unit whether they are playing at home or on the road.
The Kiwis are defending a perfect record in 50 over cricket at home this summer. They saw off the West Indies at the beginning of the summer 3-0 and then Pakistan arrived and were sent on their way with a 5-0 defeat. New Zealand have won eight of their nine home series since they lost the World Cup final in 2015.
England
The turnaround in England’s fortunes in this format of the game since the last World Cup has been quite remarkable and they have another chance to highlight that over the next couple of weeks. If England can win this series then they would really lay a marker and a statement down with sides beginning to work towards the World Cup.
Eoin Morgan’s men arrive in New Zealand off the back of winning five successive bilateral series either side of the Champions Trophy last season but they will not need reminding that things did not go well for them when they hosted that tournament. A powerful batting line up and attacking fields have resulted in a big turnaround in their fortunes.
Head to Head
These two sides have done battle in 18 previous ODI series down the years. It has generally been fairly even in that time too. England have eight series win while New Zealand have seven and three have finished all square. All three draws have been in New Zealand with the home side having won four and lost three.
It is level between the two nations in individual matches too with both sides winning 26 games against the other with four no results and just to emphasise how closely matched they are there have been a couple of ties too. History suggests this will be a close series.
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Betting
England are favourites for the series but New Zealand need to be respected, especially at home where they have played eight and won eight this summer. My gut instinct is that the Kiwis could be a bit of value overall but these two are so evenly matched I don’t really want to get involved in the series outright especially with the tosses likely to be so crucial.
It would appear England are going to continue with this nonsense idea of Jonny Bairstow opening and amazingly exclude Alex Hales completely and with that in mind someone in their middle order could be worth a shot. Eoin Morgan looked in good touch in the last T20 England played which bodes well for him and at 8/1 he is overpriced. If England’s top order does struggle Morgan can take advantage.
David Willey bowled very well in the recent T20 series and with the technical flaws against the swinging ball that the New Zealand openers have there is no reason why he can’t go well in this series too. There is no need to smack Adil Rashid everywhere so I’m guessing New Zealand will look to play him out which could work to the advantage of Willey at a more than fair price if he plays enough matches.
Tips
Back E.Morgan Top England Series Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 9.00 with Betfair
Back D.Willey Top England Series Bowler for a 1/10 stake at 7.00 with Betfair
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