After a huge defeat in Wellington it is do or die for New Zealand on Wednesday when they take on South Africa in the fourth ODI of the five match series. That defeat for New Zealand has put South Africa 2-1 up in the series and a win for the tourists in this next match in Hamilton will secure them the series with a match to spare. New Zealand must win to force a decider.
New Zealand
Not for the first time in the last six months we don’t need to look too deep to work out where it all went wrong for the Kiwis in their last match. After showing some positive signs with the bat in Christchurch they completely and utterly fell apart with the bat in hand in Wellington. It is almost like they have gone one step forward and five back.
If you can take a positive when you’ve been drubbed then New Zealand have one in the form of what they did with the ball in Wellington but that is no surprise. They have bowled well for the last however long but going forward they need to eradicate these batting issues because if they can bat well they have every chance in the forthcoming Champions Trophy.
South Africa
After being narrowly edged out in Christchurch to end their fantastic unbeaten run, South Africa didn’t dwell on it and didn’t feel sorry for themselves. Instead they got back on the bike and got stuck in again and they will hope that the win in Wellington will have started another excellent run like the one which just ended.
South Africa haven’t truly flourished with the bat in this series yet so if and when they deliver with the willow like we all know they can you would think they have the tools in them to get the job done and secure the series. They will be hoping that happens here and then they will have a chance to rest some players ahead of the Test series.
Team News
Martin Guptill is back in the squad for New Zealand while all the indications are that Luke Ronchi will get the gloves from Tom Latham who is likely to pay the price for a bad run of form with the bat.
South Africa may well go back to the two spinner combination that worked so well in the first match of the series here which would mean a return for Tabraiz Shamsi. JP Duminy could be a second spinner if South Africa decide not to change.
Seddon Park
This is the second time in the series that a match has been held here. South Africa won the opening match of the series on this ground in what was a great match. Everyone will be hoping to see something similar here.
The wicket in that first ODI turned quite a bit despite a barrel load of rain in the build up to it. With the weather set to be much better for this one that spin might be more exaggerated.
Betting
I’ve had problems all series long in terms of the match betting. I don’t trust this New Zealand batting line up but at the same time I don’t want to take on their bowling attack and when you throw in the small grounds being hard to defend the match outcome betting still doesn’t interest me.
The sixes do in this match though. Although the series has been played on small grounds so far we’ve yet to have an avalanche of sixes. That isn’t a surprise. New Zealand aren’t batting well but their bowling attack rarely goes around the park. I expect that trend to continue here where the sixes line is quite high at 13.
In a close match it would need South Africa to hit some sixes to cover this line whereas if either side get skittled then it is unlikely to get anywhere near the total so that to me suggests the under is a good thing once again and even more so when we factor in the spin on show.
Tips
Back Under 13 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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