Crunch game at the World Cup today with New Zealand hosting England in a Wellington day-nighter. Fans are craving a close game and this one has all the trappings of being so.
The Three Big Questions
Is Adam Milne New Zealand’s best third seam option?
New Zealand are going with an unchanged lineup for today’s match which means Adam Milne will again keep Kyle Mills out (and to a lesser extent Mitchell McClenaghan). Milne shades the only contentious position presumably because of his extra pace. The English batsman have struggled against other express quicks such as Mitchell Starc and Johnson over the past few weeks, and the Black Caps are obviously keen to keep testing their appetite for the quick, short stuff. Milne’s returns have been modest so far – 2/56 and 0/32 at an economy of 5.17 runs per over. But, in the eye of the New Zealand selectors, the RPO is clearly offset by the wicket-taking threat. Mills would contain with his accurate cross seamers gripping on the Westpac surface, without any real danger. Milne’s the right call.
When will Eoin Morgan return to form?
He has to doesn’t he. How long can someone be “due” without ever scoring runs? Morgan is providing the English journalists with an almighty angle for their pre-match reporting, and 4 ducks in 5 matches is the type of banter club players love (something about an Audi for a few ducks in a row). Morgan is quality though; he will jump at the chance of a change of scenery and we expect the drought to end today. We would bat him at 6 though and let James Taylor occupy 5. This will give Taylor more time in the middle, while also handing the important closing role to Morgan with less pressure on him the score runs.
Is the World Cup too long? Will we run out of questions to answer in our daily previews?
Yes and yes.
Today’s Match
New Zealand v England, Wellington Regional Stadium (Wellington – partly cloudy), starts 2:00pm local time
New Zealand – $1.51
England – $2.56
New Zealand are riding high on a wave of game generated momentum and public admiration, and now face a humiliated England side who were a bit gun-shy in their World Cup opener in Melbourne. While the Black Caps are strong favourites at the bookies, we think this will be considerably closer than the odds suggest. Why? Because New Zealand haven’t faced quality opening bowlers for some time. Having time and time again dined out on Sri Lanka and Pakistan military medium’s and only had a small dose of imperious quicks when they warmed up against South Africa, they now face Stuart Broad and James Anderson. Two quality seamers with equally promising backups in Steven Finn and Chris Woakes. Eoin Morgan’s due too (even though he’s battling the captaincy curse).
New Zealand have name an unchanged side from the one that has come out on top in their first two efforts. They need to shake it off, shake it off the poor chase they nearly threw away of just 160 odd against Scotland three days ago. We’re anxious for New Zealand in this one.
Today’s Bet
We like outsiders, so think about lumping on England on a straight head to head here. If you’re really confident, back England win by 50 Runs or 6-10 Wickets at $7.00. If you need a player to back, pick Joe Root to top score at $5.50 (he averages 58.4 against NZ in 7 ODI’s).
Odds from Palmerbet.
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
