After three pretty one sided T20 matches, New Zealand and Pakistan begin three hopefully much closer ODI games on Monday when they meet at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
One of the features of this Kiwi summer has been seeing all the picturesque grounds the country is famous for throughout their international schedule and we crank it up a notch here with the views and scenery at the Basin a joy to see.
New Zealand got home 2-1 in the T20 series despite a rotten run chase in the opening game. They were in complete control from there on in and will look to build on that positivity over the next week or so.
If New Zealand are to win this opening match they will have to do it without some key players. Ross Taylor, Tim Southee and Brendon McCullum are all injured and miss out while Luke Ronchi has only been picked for this first game. He will be replaced by BJ Watling for the rest of the series. Trent Boult is available.
Pakistan have brought in the reinforcements since their T20 demise earlier in the week. Mohammad Irfan, Rahat Ali and the captain Azhar Ali all come in but on the down side Shahid Afridi has left now as he no longer plays 50 over cricket. The tension between Ali and Mohammad Amir will be interesting to see given Ali’s views expressed publicly.
This is the first ODI at the Basin Reserve since 2005 so what has gone before on this ground is largely irrelevant as it is a different game now but we know that conditions are often conducive to swing and the boundaries aren’t the biggest. It should be a good game of cricket.
Pakistan’s best chance might be to get New Zealand here before they get some of their better players back but after a paltry batting effort in the last T20 I’m going to need to see more from them with the willow before I can get involved in backing them.
I’m not really in a rush to back New Zealand at the prices either with them being a bit depleted and a much bigger series with Australia beginning to close in so I’ll leave the match outcome alone I think.
One bet I like though comes in the player performances. This time it is Corey Anderson that I like. He has a performance line of 45 which looks much too low now that he is back bowling as well.
He has just belted an unbeaten 84 in no time in the 3rd T20 so he is back in form with the bat and he took wickets in the last two of those T20 matches. When he has been fit he has been a big part of New Zealand’s bowling attack and there’s always the chance of catches too.
All of that means an average match will get him to 45pts but a special one with either bat or ball and he gets there in one discipline so I’m more than happy to be on that over line.
Back C.Anderson’s Performance Pts – 45&Over for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
