The opening matches of Group B of the T20 World Cup 2022 will be played out in a double header on Monday with the first game of the two seeing the former champions West Indies meeting Scotland in Hobart.
West Indies saw Sri Lanka lose as heavy favourites in the other group on Sunday and will be eager to avoid doing the same thing. Scotland won their group last year and will be eyeing up a shock win to set them on their way to repeating that achievement here.
West Indies
I wouldn’t say West Indies are going to this tournament under the radar because I don’t think any team with the reputation they have, even if it is largely historical, goes under the radar but they certainly head to Australia with not as many teams fearing them as much as they would have done six years ago when their gun players were all at their peak. That offers up the chance for new names to be made this month and West Indies will hope one or two rise to the challenge.
This version of the West Indies have two big problems. The biggest issue they have is their reluctance or inability to rotate the strike. The outfields are big here and they are heavy so smashing everything out of the park just isn’t a realistic proposition. The other problem they have is there is no mystery spinner to rely on to shore up an end for four overs so that puts a bit more pressure on their batting and it doesn’t always live up to the scrutiny.
Scotland
I don’t think anyone saw Scotland winning all three of their group matches at this stage of the T20 World Cup last year but that is what they managed to do. They know they can do it and that should give them a lot of belief that they can do it again. They are a team who can really come to the party in the big matches. A lot of that comes from the fact that they don’t really have much to lose when they are on them so they play with a freedom that allows them to perform.
Scotland have plenty of batters who are either playing county cricket or have done in the past so they shouldn’t be inconvenienced by these conditions so the success for the Scots, whatever that might be in this tournament, will be determined by how their bowlers get on. If they can get a score on the board and keep things tight early on they could easily get West Indies panicking in the same way Namibia did to Sri Lanka on Sunday.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this series! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
West Indies spinner Yannic Cariah picked up a hand injury in the warm up match last week and it has not been confirmed whether he is available to play here. If he isn’t then West Indies could choose to go in with the extra seamer.
Scotland haven’t given any indication around their team but Josh Davey bowled four overs in the warm up match so he looks to be up to speed after missing a lot of the county summer due to an injury. He’ll share the new ball with Hampshire and London Spirit bowler Brad Wheal.
Betting
I’m not going to go too mad in these opening matches until I’ve seen how the conditions in Hobart are playing but there is one bet which I like which should be able to come in regardless of the playing conditions. I am effectively involved in Scotland to win this match anyway having backed them to win the group. If they can get over the line here they will take a huge step to doing that. The bet I like though comes in the performance market for Jason Holder.
He has a line of 31.5 which looks very low for a cricketer of his quality. He is one of the key players for West Indies. He’ll bat somewhere in the middle order and should go well with the bat against this Scottish attack on this ground and he’ll bowl his four overs too. He’ll bowl some in the powerplay and some at the end of the innings. He is also a tremendous fielder so as ever when we get a 3D cricketer with a line this low I’m happy to be on the over.
Tips
Back J.Holder’s Performance – Over 31.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
