After what has been an exciting T20 Tri-Series so far, New Zealand and Australia will duel it out in the final from Eden Park this Wednesday night. We take a look at the matchup between old rivals and give our tips for the game below.
Australia has been completely dominant in the tri-series to date, winning all four of their matches to finish well clear on top of the table. New Zealand and England split their two matchups, but the Kiwis superior net run rate punched their ticket to the final at Eden Park.
The two teams met at Eden Park just last week, and Australia looked like losing the match after New Zealand posted a monster 243 run target batting first. However, a brilliant innings by D’Arcy Short and some late game heroics by the Australian middle order allowed the Aussies to chase down the mammoth total with seven balls to spare.
The smaller Eden Park, which has some boundaries listed at just over 50m long, means the par score will be elevated to well over 200, especially with some of the big hitters that both teams boast. Martin Guptill has been fantastic throughout the series with 237 runs at 59.25 and a brilliant hundred in the game against Australia.
The Australian batting performance has been well rounded, with Glenn Maxwell, D’Arcy Short and Chris Lynn all chipping in for valuable runs in their four matches. Australia’s real dominance, however, has come through their bowling performances. Bowling first in their first three matches, they were able to keep their opponents to scores of 117, 155 and 137 respectively as Andrew Tye and Billy Stanlake lead the charge, claiming 15 wickets between them so far.
For the Kiwis, along with Guptills standout performance, it’s been Trent Boult leading the way with the ball, claiming 8 wickets at an average of 19. Kane Williamson hasn’t had the series he would have liked, with just 89 runs through four games, but as one of the premier batsman in the world, he is always a threat to turn a game.
We tipped Australia to win the series a few weeks ago, and it’s hard to go against that tip now after the dominance they’ve shown throughout the round robin stage. They start as $1.53 favourites at Eden Park and the home crowd advantage is the only factor that we can see having an influence on an Australian win.
TIP: Australia to win - $1.53 at Ladbrokes
At just $1.53, you might have to look elsewhere for some value in this match. In the last game between these two sides at Eden Park there was a monster 32 sixes hit between the two sides. The line for this match has been set at just 20.5, which we think gets cleared easily given the size of the ground.
TIP: Total match sixes OVER 20.5 - $1.88 at Sportsbet
Martin Guptill has been fantastic so far this series and proved that the Aussie bowling attack doesn’t worry him as he smashed a hundred in their last matchup. Opening the batting, you always get the extra advantage to be your teams top scorer, so we like him at odds of $3.50 here.
TIP: Martin Guptill top NZ run scorer - $3.50 at Sportsbet
