Just over a week after they were beaten in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup, New Zealand and India begin a T20 series which carries little in the way of meaning other than to keep both teams active in this international window.
Both sides will have been wanting to go two steps further than they did at the T20 World Cup and begin the new cycle in the opening game in Wellington. It will be interesting to see what sort of intensity comes with this contest.
New Zealand
Having dominated the early stages of the T20 World Cup, it all went wrong for New Zealand when it really mattered in the semi-final. They offered up a pretty abject display against Pakistan in Sydney and paid the price for it. That saw them exit the tournament a whole lot earlier than they would have wanted to and now they have to raise themselves for a challenge which they probably didn’t want so soon from that defeat.
The good thing about this match is it gives New Zealand a chance to put that semi-final defeat behind them but ultimately they will know it is a couple of years before they really get the chance to put things right. The cricket world never stops though and to be fair to the Kiwis, they have picked a pretty strong squad to take part in this series so it looks like the home side are taking it seriously, which you would have to say wasn’t guaranteed given how close this series is to the capitulation in the T20 World Cup.
India
India were in a similar position to New Zealand in that they absolutely controlled their Super 12 group largely from start to finish and then crashed and burned in the semi-final. If New Zealand were abject in their semi-final India were pathetic in their one as they got blitzed by the eventual champions England in a contest where at no stage did they really land anything resembling a meaningful blow. Given the emphasis on T20 cricket in India the tournament can only be classed as a failure.
India are already looking at what they have in terms of depth in this series. They have left a lot of star names out of their squad for this series which is understandable given the amount of cricket they have to play this side of Christmas. That offers the chance for some of the lesser lights to prove that they are the ones who should be included moving forward. This is a good chance for a number of Indian players to make a name for themselves.
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Team News
New Zealand have kept largely the same squad which played in the T20 World Cup with Trent Boult the only absentee. Adam Milne is expected to be the player who replaces him in an otherwise unchanged side.
India have decided to make wholesale changes to their side. There is no Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli or R Ashwin with Hardik Pandya once again given the task of leading a side which is likely to have Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill as openers.
Betting
We are at the Cake Tin in Wellington for this match so unlike the vast expanses of Australia we have a small ground which is primarily used for rugby and is much more like the size of ground which both these teams are used to. It remains to be seen how well the pitch plays here because this isn’t always the highest scoring ground but you would imagine the fact that the majority of both teams have been extremely active recently will help with the scoring.
I’m heading to the side markets for a bet on the match given that we don’t exactly know how India are going to line up and the bet I like comes in the form of the sixes where the line for this match sits at 12.5. That looks a little on the low side to me given the dimensions of this ground. Admittedly it isn’t quite as short as Eden Park but it isn’t a great deal bigger and with little competitive nature on things here I expect the explosive batters to come to the party. I like the over here.
Tips
Back Over 12.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.95 with BetVictor
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