Cricket Betting: New Zealand vs South Africa T20 Preview

Rarely does a location evoke contrasting feelings for teams than Eden Park for New Zealand and South Africa. This is the same venue where the Kiwis dramatically punched the Proteas out of 2015 World Cup semi-finals. The teams will meet at the same venue again on Friday, February 17th for a one-off T20I which will kick-start the tour of New Zealand for South Africa.

Kiwis on a home run
So much has changed in the Kiwi side from that 2015 semi-final as Kane Williamson underwent a tough baptism at the helm of affairs for New Zealand. Now that he’s settled with some home wins under his belt, the expectation is that the Proteas may not find the going easy in this trip.

The Kiwis have a strong T20 squad with the short format specialists James Neesham, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi and Colin Munro capable of destroying any attack on their day. Of course, the best of the lot is their captain!
Bowling looks formidable too with Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi and Ben Wheeler likely to give an edge to the hosts.

A score to settle?
South Africa come into the series on the back of a surprise 2-1 loss in the T20I series to Sri Lanka. But mind you, it was a second string team that played there and one shouldn’t read too much into that performance.

The return of big guns AB de Villiers, Faf du Plessis and Hashim Amla makes the Proteas a hard nut to crack. Add the pocket dynamo Quinton de Kock and you have one line-up that is really fearsome.
Bowling will be led by the ever-improving Kagiso Rabada while Imran Tahir will try to keep the Kiwi hard-hitters at bay.

Odds
South Africa have won 10 of their previous 14 T20I encounters and should start as favourites for this encounter. A South African win is offered at odds of $1.73 (William Hill).

Make no mistake, this Kiwi side will not be easy to roll over – especially at home. They have all the bases covered and look good to pull off an upset. At odds of $2.20 (bet365) a Kiwi win looks a value punt.

Coming to the batsmen, Williamson at odds of $3.75 (Ladbrokes) and De Kock at odds of $4.33 (William Hill) look good to top the charts for their respective sides.

TIP: New Zealand to win – $2.20 at bet365

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