New Zealand move from Ireland to Scotland for the latest leg of their overseas winter on Wednesday when they face the Scots in the first of two T20s over the course of this week. Two T20s after a long spell away from home might mean little but with a World Cup on the horizon they offer further preparation opportunity.
Scotland have made it through to the World Cup later in the year but will come in during the first round stage so they will be looking to hit the ground running heading into that competition. New Zealand have their sights set on the title so this match feels important.
Scotland
Scotland had a much better T20 World Cup than they were seeded to have in 2021 and as a result of that they were able to avoid any qualifying tournaments for the 2022 tournament later in the year. Clearly automatic qualification for a big event like that is a positive for a nation like Scotland but what it does mean is that they haven’t had to turn their attention to the 20 over game until now. This will be their first T20 international since the last World Cup almost nine months ago.
As with any lesser nation, the first thing you look towards when assessing the chances of a team is the quality of their bowlers. You tend to find that they have enough with the bat in the main but that their bowling can go around the park. If Scotland can avoid going the distance in this match then in conditions they will be used to there is every chance they can put a score up with the bat, although we saw in the last World Cup that top quality bowlers can trouble them.
New Zealand
I always wonder when tours that have gone on this long take place whether the attention of the players is fully on the job at hand, especially against an opposition who are a rung or two below them on the level ladder. New Zealand have taken on England and Ireland already on this overseas stint but the two things which make me think they’ll still be putting it in are that there are places in the World Cup squad up for grabs and also that they still have to go to the Netherlands after this stop so the tour isn’t close to being over yet.
New Zealand head into this match off the back of three T20 wins in Ireland where although they weren’t always at their best, they got the job done pretty comfortably on all three occasions. Different players came through for them at different times which is probably what they want from this tour and they will be looking for much of the same here. You sense New Zealand will look to dominate with the ball because they should have more than enough with the bat.
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Team News
Michael Jones has been named in the Scotland squad for these matches but he is currently playing for Durham against Middlesex in the County Championship so won’t be available until the second game. Josh Davey misses the series through injury.
New Zealand are using the same squad which they had when they were in Ireland which means that Mitchell Santner will captain the side once again. That side could be unchanged unless they choose to give a game to Michael Rippon.
Betting
I’m going to largely keep my powder dry with Scotland having not played a T20 international since the World Cup let alone against a team of the quality of New Zealand but if there is one area where the game could be won and lost and as punters we can exploit it is the Scotland new ball where I fancy Martin Guptill and Finn Allen will be able to pin their ears back and have a good go here, the latter in particular.
He will have faced the more dangerous Scotland bowlers in the Vitality Blast over the last couple of seasons so the likes of Mark Watt shouldn’t be able to bowl anything to him that he hasn’t already seen. The explosive 23-year-old has been given a chance to stake his claim for a place in the New Zealand squad for the T20 World Cup but he hasn’t completely taken it yet. He gets another chance here and on a ground where the dimensions suit him I fancy him to hit more than 2.5 fours, something he has done in four of his last seven T20 internationals.
Tips
Back F.Allen – Over 2.5 fours for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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