There are three matches taking place in the T20 World Cup on Tuesday with the first of them as always coming from New York where we head back to Group A for a potentially decisive clash between Canada and Pakistan.
We are halfway through this section and it seems crazy to say that Canada are the team with the better chance of qualifying but that will only remain the case if they are able to win this game. Pakistan need big wins and even that might not be enough.
Canada
There has been a lot to like about the Canadian side in this tournament so far and but for one insanely good innings from Aaron Jones in their opening game they could easily be sitting on two wins themselves rather than the win and defeat that they have to their name. The problem Canada have is they have got the two perceived easier matches out of the way and now things are going to get tougher but if they can come out on top here they really will be in the qualification picture.
What I have liked most about this Canada side is how they have adapted to the conditions quickly and allowed their middle order to build something of a platform that they could launch from and on both occasions they have put up a daunting score. It will be interesting to see how they go chasing a score but they have gone well with the bat and except for one partnership they have held their own with the ball too. This has been a very good campaign for the Canucks so far.
Pakistan
Having made the final of this competition in Australia the idea for Pakistan heading to this part of the world was to go one better and win the tournament but two games into their campaign and their hopes are already hanging by a thread. There were warning signs heading to the Caribbean. They were beaten by Ireland in the first game of a three match series last month and didn’t offer anything against England in two warm up games and they look like a side devoid in confidence here.
To be fair, their bowlers have generally got the job done for them, although one over in particular against USA could be their undoing when they went down in the super over but having bowled India out for 119 here on Sunday they had the chance to get themselves right back into the conversation of potential winners only to never really ever look like chasing it down and now they need two fairly big wins over Canada and Ireland and have to hope USA don’t pick up another point anywhere.
Special Offer
Open a new Sporting Index account and bet £10 on the T20 World Cup (min odds 1/2) to get £20 in free bets (2x£10 free bets) to use on any sports market! Click the image below to take advantage of this great offer! 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Responsibly.
Team News
There is no real need for Canada to change a winning team especially as they won that last game here on this ground so any changes that they do make would be down to illness or injury picked up since the win over Ireland.
Pakistan will surely have to change something in their batting line up, whether it is the order or the personnel. Saim Ayub could be an option with Shadab Khan potentially under pressure if he isn’t going to bowl, which is unlikely here.
Betting
Thankfully we are getting towards the end of the road here in New York because the matches are hard to watch when you have a bet on them because we’ve had to load up on a bunch of unders and although none of them have been in trouble you can never truly be comfortable in this format of the game on an under. As it happens I think there is a better way to play this match which kind of covers a low scoring game which I expect this one to be, as they all have been here.
The angle I am going to take is for Canada to be competitive. They are the team who have the better chance of progressing from this group of the two and we shouldn’t really forget that. That Pakistan run chase in the last game was absolutely pathetic and while they won’t face an Indian attack of that quality here, this is a Canada side who under intense pressure defended 130 odd against Ireland and generally in their two matches they have shown a lot of smartness with the bat. I’m certainly not ruling out a Canada win here and at 6/1 I’ll certainly cover it but this ground has been so hard to bat on that the handicap line looks really big. That is +6.5 wickets or 34.5 runs so Canada need to get four wickets against a bang out of touch top order if they bat first and within 34 runs of a score that isn’t likely to be beyond 130 if scores here so far are anything to go by if they bat second. Both of those scenarios seem realistic to me so I’ll take the Canucks with this start with a small cover on the big priced win.
Tips
Back Canada (+6.5wickets/34.5runs) to beat Pakistan for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
Back Canada to beat Pakistan for a 1/10 stake at 7.00 with William Hill
Back them here:
