Cricket Betting: New Zealand vs West Indies ODI Series Preview
New Zealand romped to a 2-0 win in the Test series against West Indies as expected. The visitors looked clueless and listless continuing their dour record against the Kiwis in the recent past. The teams now move to white-ball cricket as the three-match ODI series starts on Wednesday, December 20th.
There’s plenty of other cricket on at the moment with BBL07 underway as well as the upcoming T20 series between India and the Sri Lanka. Make sure you check out our cricket page for all your tips!
The hosts are using this series to rotate their regular players. Kane Williamson will be playing only the first match while Tom Latham will be their captain in the last two. Overall, the Kiwis have a mixed look about their squad which should give the visitors a huge chance to nick the series!
One thing in favour of the West Indies, at least in the ODI series, is the return of Chris Gayle and a clutch of ODI specialists. This is expected to energise the squad, enough to challenge the hosts.
Will squad rotation hurt the Kiwis?
Williamson will not be alone in being rotated this series. Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, and Neil Broom will all be rotated keeping in view the long home season ahead. The hosts will also miss Martin Guptill (hamstring injury) and Colin de Grandhomme (owing to his father’s death).
The hosts will be strong in their bowling, though, as Trent Boult, Southee, Adam Milne, and Matt Henry give them an enviable look. The only worry will be to keep the visiting batsmen under check!
Can Gayle find his mojo?
The 38-year-old Gayle is fresh from his exploits in the Bangladesh Premier League final where he slammed 18 sixes in the final. The small grounds in New Zealand make him a bigger threat. Then, there are the Hope brothers – Shai and Kyle – who give West Indies a slight edge in batting.
However, captain Jason Holder should be ruing the absence of a talismanic bowler. That would have given the edge to the visitors!
Key players
With all the action around, resorting to resting a set of players, the hosts will hope that Ross Taylor continues his cracking form from the ODIs.
No matter what we say about him, Gayle is still one of the most destructive openers in world cricket. However, Evin Lewis is not far behind, having actually modelled his game on the big man. He impressed in white-ball cricket on the England tour and could once again be vital with his stroke-making ability.
Picks
This is the best chance for West Indies to win the series outright. There have been a good number of false dawns, but this should be something within their reach for West Indies. Back them to win the series at odds of $4 (Ladbrokes). The series correct score bet could be West Indies 2-1 at odds of $4.33 (Ladbrokes).
