The T20 World Cup 2021 continues on Tuesday with another double header of action which sees the two teams from Group B back on show on what could be a defining day for the four teams involved. The day begins with Papua New Guinea going up against Scotland.
Scotland won their opening match of the tournament and a win here will all but put them into Super 12 stage of the event while Papua New Guinea were well beaten in their opener and if they lose this then their competitive participation in the event will be over.
Papua New Guinea
The opening match of the tournament was a bit of a rollercoaster for Papua New Guinea. After losing a couple of early wickets a brilliant third wicket partnership got them back on track only for them to collapse and not maximise their batting innings, and that in turn negatively impacted their bowling effort which in truth was a bit of a mess from start to finish, both with the ball and most certainly in the field, where they looked very ordinary.
There is much to do for Papua New Guinea now because their net run rate took such a battering that two wins might not be enough to get them through. For now though they need to concentrate on winning and keeping themselves in the competition which means not collapsing from a good position with the bat and cleaning up the sloppiness in the field and cutting out the no balls which are an absolute killer in this game.
Scotland
I think it is fair to say that Scotland went into their opening match as outsiders but not ones without a chance. As it turned out they got the better of Bangladesh with a performance that showed the beauty of not panicking and holding their nerve. They were in all kinds of trouble with the bat at 50-odd for six but they managed the situation, believed in themselves and put a score on the board which they all got together very well and defended it successfully.
Beating the highest ranked side in the group was a huge positive and now Scotland basically have two shots against lesser opponents to find the win they need to secure a place in the Super 12 stage of the event. The real positive for Scotland though is they have won a match and they know there is a lot more to come from them. They won’t find themselves 50-6 very often but should they fall in a heap again at any stage, the knowledge they can get themselves out of trouble and still win will give them so much belief now.
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Key Men
To be fair to the Papua New Guinea captain Assad Vala he showed up in good style with the bat against Oman. He’ll need to rally his troops on the field for this one but if he can continue to lead the way with the bat he’ll give his team a chance.
Kyle Coetzer looked all at sea against Bangladesh but Scotland will want their captain in form if they make it through to the Super 12. This looks like an ideal chance to get in the runs and bolster the batting moving forward.
Betting
I expect Scotland to win the match but I do think we might see an improvement from Papua New Guinea now that they have had a taste of what it is all about so I’m not really interested in getting involved in the traditional match markets for this one. The other reason why I don’t really want to touch it is because Papua New Guinea might be thinking they need to win this by more than just a normal amount so they might push the boat out a little.
There is a bet that I like though and that comes in the form of the player performance of Michael Leask. I think it is fair to say that the former Northamptonshire player didn’t have the greatest game in the win against Bangladesh. He was out second ball and his two overs went for 20 but I expect him to go better here. There isn’t as much in the PNG bowling attack should he get to the crease with the bat and we saw Papua New Guinea fall in a heap to spin in the first game with Oman and Leask bowls spin which should yield results. His performance line is 21.5 for this match and when you throw in catching potential on top I think that can be covered.
Tips
Back M.Leask’s Performance – Over 21.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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