Seddon Park in Hamilton will be packed on Sunday when New Zealand and South Africa begin their ODI series. The two sides will play five matches over the next couple of weeks with the first game in Hamilton given both the chance to seize an early control of the series by winning this opening match.
South Africa laid a bit of a marker down when they controlled the T20 match throughout in Auckland on Friday and it will be up to New Zealand to respond as quickly as possible.
New Zealand
Kane Williamson’s men go into this match off the back of a nice little run in this format of the game. They have now won their last five completed matches and they have done so without really batting the opposition out of the game. That means if they can find their batting best they are going to be a match not just for South Africa here but for anyone in the Champions Trophy to come.
One area of the game where they have been on song for a while has been with the ball and with the depth their have especially in their seam attack you get the feeling they are going to be tough to face in this series too. They’ll need to bowl well though because this South Africa batting line up is solid.
South Africa
New Zealand’s current run in ODI cricket is good but it is nothing compared to the one South Africa are on. The Proteas have won their last 11 ODIs which is a superb achievement especially with everything that has been going on in their cricket over the last 2-3 months or so. They’ll be aiming for more success here to take into the Champions Trophy.
One of the reasons for that success has been their dynamic batting line up. Their top four is about as good as anything going around today and they no longer have a totally weak link in their bowling attack either. They play their cricket as aggressive as anyone and you can tell that when you watch them field. They’re a top outfit.
Team News
Martin Guptill has been ruled out of the opening two ODIs because of injury which means Dean Brownlie will keep his spot having played in the last match against Australia. Ross Taylor returns having sat out the T20.
AB de Villiers has hinted that David Miller won’t be ready to feature in this match as his finger hasn’t healed 100% yet so it is likely that Ferhaan Behardien will keep his place in a side not too dissimilar to the one which played the T20. Kagiso Rabada will come in with Dane Paterson most likely to sit out.
Seddon Park
This will be the 30th ODI to be held on this ground and the second this summer after New Zealand beat Australia here recently. That was New Zealand’s 16th win here from 24 matches with six defeats and two no results. South Africa have two wins and a no result from three outings here.
As with most New Zealand grounds this is a pretty small one although nothing like as small as the one the two played the T20 on in Auckland. The wicket is usually extremely good for batting so high scores are likely.
Betting
I’ll see how these two form sides spar with each other before I get too involved in the match betting in this series although as ever in New Zealand I think there is an emphasis on the chasing side on what is a pretty tiny ground.
I do like one bet though and it is for South Africa to hit the most sixes. I took Australia to beat New Zealand in this market a couple of weeks ago and they did so and I see no reason to believe South Africa won’t either.
New Zealand are pretty circumspect up top with neither Dean Brownlie, Tom Latham nor Kane Williamson renowned for hitting sixes whereas South Africa have hitters all the way down their line up with the exception of Hashim Amla and even he has been belting them recently.
This South Africa attack isn’t the easiest to get hold of either and while the New Zealand one is similar in terms of toughness to face it has one or two weaker links than the South African one. That can all lead to South Africa hitting the most sixes in this first game.
Tips
Back South Africa Most 6s for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Titanbet
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