The last of the groups to have a look at for the T20 World Cup 2024 is Group D which looks like another competitive one with three Test playing nations in it looking for one of the two qualifying spots that are available.
Sri Lanka are former winners of this tournament so they will be looking to showcase their credentials in this group while South Africa are fancied runners of a number of judges. With one of the best fourth seeds in the section too this should be an exciting group.
The Teams
Bangladesh had plenty of negative headlines in the lead up to this tournament when they went down to USA in a warm up game although that result suddenly doesn’t look quite the disaster that it did when it happened after the way the co-hosts performed in the opening match of the competition. Nevertheless, it could be a sign that this Bangladesh side aren’t as strong as ones which have gone before it. They have always been a team who have suffered from their home pitches offering so much of an advantage that they haven’t really had to work hard to be competitive. They will need the pitches to offer lots of spin to be in with a chance of going well here.
Nepal have a support base that cricket really needs to find a way of preserving but they haven’t been helped with regards to their chances of going well in their second go at this tournament when Sandeep Lamichhane was denied a visa to head to America and compete. While he has had his issues off the field he remains the leading Nepal player on it so that is a huge blow. They will need a couple of other bowlers to step up and be counted while the aggressive Dipendra Airee needs to finish some innings well.
The Netherlands had a good 50 over World Cup having surprised many when they came through the qualifier to make it into that tournament and now they will be looking to show that they can transfer that form into the 20 over game. I think it is fair to say that their bowling unit is their stronger suit without a couple of county batters that add depth to their order but if their all-rounders can bat well and lengthen the batting then the Dutch could be competitive. They beat South Africa in the last T20 World Cup and will be out for another big scalp here.
South Africa and tournament play don’t tend to go together very often and we got a reminder of that in this competition last time out when they only had to beat the Netherlands to qualify for the semi-final but baulked under the pressure and came up short. They look a much better unit overall now, helped undoubtedly by the early success of the SA20 tournament, but as ever with South Africa you are taking a chance that they can handle the pressure, especially in positions where they are overwhelming favourites. If they can this could be their time but it is a significant if.
Sri Lanka have kind of gone into this tournament under the radar. Nearly nobody is talking about them going well but yet they are former winners of the competition and have conditions which should really suit them. One doubt over them is whether they have enough top level out and out batters but if they do then they have a good mix of bowlers to be a real handful in this. Sri Lanka have been three time finalists in the T20 World Cup and while I don’t see them being finalists this time around, there is no reason why they can’t perform strongly.
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Group Betting
I’m a little surprised that Sri Lanka can be backed at 7/2 to win this group. If they can catch South Africa cold in the opening game, which could well happen when you consider that none of Heinrich Klaasen, David Miller, Aidan Markram, Marco Jansen, Tristan Stubbs or Kagiso Rabada among others were involved in the series with West Indies prior to the tournament, then there is no reason why Sri Lanka can’t then build on that effort and go on and win the group.
They would need to beat Bangladesh in their second game but I really do think Bangladesh are a good deal behind the two big guns in this group so as long as take care of the Netherlands and Nepal, and I don’t see that being an issue, they could take a large step towards winning the group in the opening game. Even if they don’t beat South Africa, it wouldn’t be a complete shock to anyone for the Proteas to slip up somewhere else so the 7/2 on Sri Lanka to win this group looks decent enough to me.
Team Betting
I’ve already tipped up Reeza Hendricks to be the top batter at the tournament but I can’t ignore the near 4/1 on him to lead the South Africa run scoring as well. I have mentioned that he is the glue that the big hitters will look to bat around and when you consider that likely opening partner Quinton de Kock is bang out of form and has issues against spin, which he could face a lot of in the group, while Aidan Markram at three has been playing in the IPL for the last couple of months. Hendricks is fresh as a daisy, scored runs in the series against West Indies and is a good T20 player. With the major dangers batting deep in this order I’ll take a chance that Hendricks outscores them all.
Max O’Dowd is the favourite to be the leading Netherlands batter in the competition but I actually think that his opening partner Michael Levitt is the one to be on. O’Dowd can get bogged down in this format of the game so Levitt has the chance to kick clear and steal a march on the guy who eventually the Dutch order will all look to bat around. There are a couple of dangers in the side such as Vikramjeet Singh, who might end up opening if O’Dowd continues to get stuck, and Bas de Leede but you’ve got to think that the Netherlands will only get four innings in this competition and if Levitt fires up in a couple of them then he is going to be tough to reel back in.
Tips
Back Sri Lanka to win Group D for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back R.Hendricks Top South Africa Tournament Batter for a 2/10 stake at 4.75 with Spreadex
Back M.Levitt Top Netherlands Tournament Batter for a 1/10 stake at 5.00 with Betfair
