Tag: Kane Williamson

Cricket: New Zealand v England 1st Test Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

English cricket fans are desperate for some good news.  Their National cricket team is without a coach, is embroiled in a long-winding and tiresome war of words with Kevin Pieterson, and suffered an embarrassing recent loss to a West Indies team their new Chairman Colin Graves labelled ‘mediocre’.  Thus the fans need a distraction that can only be delivered in the form of a test and series win against New Zealand.

Their New Zealand opponents are on an upward curve.  After a promising home series against Sri Lanka and a World Cup campaign that set the nation alight, New Zealand have moved to third in the test rankings and will no longer fly under any world cricket radar.

The opening bowling pair of Tim Southee and Trent Boult is arguable the strongest facet of their game, but with Kane Williamson, and Brendon McCullum in the middle order, runs might not be a problem for the first time in an away Northern Hemisphere tour.

They have concerns over the form of Ross Taylor (he’s failed to get past 32 in four warmup innings thus far), and their preparation has been slightly scuppered by the late arrival of IPL stars.  But they should still be competitive throughout.

The Last Time These Two Met

The Black Caps were pretty ropey the last time they played in England.  In a test series immediately after a drawn series in New Zealand, the tourists fell to two hefty defeats at Lords and Hedgingly.  The most disappointing aspect of the tour was the final innings effort at Lords where New Zealand fell over for 68 when chasing 239 for the win – perhaps the Lords slope will be cause for concern for the batsman again.  New Zealand’s bowling was on song for most of the series, however their batsman let them down badly.

Of more recent form, New Zealand beat Sri Lanka at home in their most recent series, while the English tied a series in the West Indies – much to the disappointed of their fans.

The Teams

England (likely): 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Adam Lyth, 3 Gary Ballance, 4 Ian Bell, 5 Joe Root, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Ben Stokes, 8 Jos Buttler (wk), 9 Mark Wood, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

Adam Lyth and Mark Wood are expected to debut in the series opener.

New Zealand (likely): 1 Tom Latham, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Brendon McCullum (capt), 6 Corey Anderson, 7 BJ Watling (wk), 8 Mark Craig, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Trent Boult

As is Matt Henry for New Zealand.

The Key Players

James Anderson – Some have already labelled the series a battle between New Zealand and Anderson.  England’s one true match-winner simply gets the job done series after series.  He is deadly at home too and, after having worked himself into some form at the end of the West Indies series, shapes as the key foil to a New Zealand series win.

Kane Williamson – Don’t be fooled by New Zealand’s climb to third in the test match rankings or their dream run to the World Cup Final in April, their batsman will struggle in England.  The ball will swing and the ball will seam, and England have to bowlers to exploit both.  That puts the onus on the techniques of the New Zealand batsman and there are none better than Williamson.  Williamson’s straight bat is the best defence to the moving ball and with plenty of English conditions experience with Yorkshire should be able to improve on his modest record in England.  Expect a big series from the little man.

The Match Odds*

England – $2.32

New Zealand – $2.80

Draw – $2.95

*Courtesy of Sportsbet Australia.

The Prediction

Great odds all round if you’re confident which way this one will go.  Always factor in the rain in English hosted test matches but also consider the movement on offer could equate to a lot of wickets falling early in the test (only two of the past 8 test have been drawn at Lords).  So we’re thinking result, and we’ll go with England courtesy of their superior home record.

The Best Bets

BJ Watling to top score at $10.00 is sensational money.  In great nick in the warm up games, and barring any spectacular collapses won’t face a new ball until the second is on offer and he’s well settled.

Matt Henry is likely to grab the third seamer spot and he might just surprise a few people.  More into the pitch then Boult and Southee he may enjoy bowling into the slope.  He’s at $4.33 to lead the wicket-takers in the 1st Innings.

Cricket: Teams face off in final hit out before World Cup

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The pre-cup bilaterals are almost at an end.  The endless warm up matches will soon be replaced by the real deal, the main event.  Accordingly, game two between Pakistan and New Zealand at McClean Park is one of the final opportunities to fine tune games and plans before the pressure gets crippling.

Pakistan need the game more than New Zealand.  The home side are well settled, in form and winning.  The World Cup couldn’t come sooner for them.  Pakistan on the other hand still need time to acclimatise.  They need to experience a win (after losing game on and losing to a mediocre invitational side).

Napier’s game two day-nighter presents the perfect opportunity.

The Last Time These Two Met

Game one featured plenty of rust.  Not the kind coming from the empty seat at the Cake Tin either.  Mainly it was the evident rust of the paisan line-up that will be better for the blow out.  Batting first Pakistan limped to just 210.  That was only possible because of Shahid Afridi who struck 67 off just 29 balls.  His strike rate was 231, the rest of the line-up’s was just 53.

New Zealand chased it comfortably.  Ross Taylor and Grant Elliott guiding the chase with a pair of unbeaten half centuries.  The only real interest in the second innings was who would top score between the two, a bet that came down to the last run.

The Teams

New Zealand (likely): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Kane Williamson/Tom Latham, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum/Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Trent Boult

Kane Williamson’s shoulder is still not 100%, so it’s probable he’ll sit this one out again.

Pakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Haris Sohail, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), 6 Umar Akmal, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Shahid Afridi, 9 Bilawal Bhatti, 10 Mohammad Irfan, 11 Sohail Khan/Ehsan Adil

The fifth seamer is the troubling aspect of Pakistan’s squad with Haris Sohail expected to make up the bulk of the overs with the injuries to Wahab, Junaid – who has toady been ruled out of the World Cup.

The Key Players

Ross Taylor –  We don’t generally like focusing on the same player over an over again, but Taylor’s record in Napier is simply too good to ignore.  The Central Districts prospect played lots of his first class cricket at McLean Park and has subsequently carved out an amazing record on the batsman friendly ground.  In 11 ODI’s at the ground, Taylor has scored 584 runs with 2 hundreds at an average of 73.  Look for him to cash in again.  Although, one anomaly, the only time he’s failed at the ground was against Pakistan in 2011.

Shahid Afridi – Afridi is building a handy little record against New Zealand of late.  In the Abu Dhabi series Afridi played much more like a composed batsman and had an excellent series.  He didn’t quite play in the same way on Saturday, reverting back to his old school Boom Boom approach, yet he still scored big runs.  The small McClean Park could be ideal for his destructive game.

The Match Odds*

New Zealand – $1.40

Pakistan – $3.00

*Courtesy of Ladbrokes Australia.

The Prediction

Pakistan were predictably blown away by New Zealand’s seamers in game one, and while Napier isn’t expected to swing and seam as much New Zealand will still be too strong.  Remember a pitch that assists Southee and Boult also assists Irfan – and thus Napier could nullify the threat of the giant quick.

The Longshot

Hard to go past Ross Taylor to top score.  Even despite the Napier record, without Kane Williamson playing, Taylor’s a strong chance.  He’s at $5.

Cricket: NZ welcome Pakistan for 2 match World Cup warm-up

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

There were rumours of a ghost haunting the Pakistan’s team hotel in Christchurch early this week.  Harris Sohail was supposedly on the receiving end of a particularly nasty spiritual presence.  Whether the ghost was simply a figment of Sohail’s imagination or whether it was the ghost of series past between the two remains to be seen.

If it was a soul from the series the two recently completed in Abu Dhabi then it will hold memories of a closely fought series, and some strong individual performances from Sohail.  Perhaps that’s why he was awoken in the middle of the night.

Ghosts aside, the short turnaround to the Pakistan series will provide New Zealand with a sterner test than the one they have just encountered.  With concerns lingering over Guptill and Taylor, the Black Caps will welcome the chance to fine tune.

Fine tuning is also important for a Pakistan outfit that have traditionally struggled away from home.  After batting for days against New Zealand and Australia on flat pitches in Dubai, the move to New Zealand will no doubt come with trickier batting assignments against the moving ball.

Wellington is expecting a little rain.  Duckworth-Lewis may be a factor.

The Last Time These Two Met

Was recently actually.  In Dubai in November the teams endured a tense series which was eventually won by New Zealand in the final match.  After a see-saw five match series the Black Caps secure a 3-2 series win  thanks to a 68 run win.  In that series, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor topped the bating charts for New Zealand; Haris Sohail and Shahid Afridi for Pakistan.  With the ball Matt Henry was the best followed by Mohammad Irfan.

The Teams

New Zealand (likely): 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt.), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum/ Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Trent Boult

The New Zealand set-up have not given any indication as to how serious Adam Milne’s injury is, but we suspect he’s still unfit for the Pakistan series.  Nathan McCulum may get some more match practice at Vettori’s expense.

Pakistan (likely): 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Younis Khan, 4 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt.), 5 Umar Akmal, 6 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 7 Shahid Afridi, 8 Bilawal Bhatti, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Mohammad Irfan, 11 Sohail Khan/ Ehsan Adil

Plenty of options for the tourists in this series makes the predictions tough.  Only Misbah and Umar Akmal in the middle order seem sho0-ins after convincing knocks in the warm-up matches.

The Key Players

Corey Anderson – During the week Graeme Smith and Rahul Dravid pointed out the three players they thought were crucial to New Zealand’s World Cup chances.  One of them was Corey Anderson.  So well suited to thrashing the ball over the boundary, and now playing an increasing important role with the ball, Anderson’s form (which was decent against Sri Lanka) is likely to match New Zealand’s.

Umar Akmal – Scores of 77 and 68 in the two warm-up games point to Akmal being in quality form at the moment.  Pakistan hope so, as do the New Zealand sporting public who’ll be after a more fiercely competitive series.  Akmal’s form in Australia and New Zealand over the years has been excellent, this series may be another example of that and a springboard to World Cup success.

The Match Odds*

New Zealand – $1.50

Pakistan – $2.63

*Courtesy of Betstar.

The Prediction

Pakistan against the swinging and bouncing ball worries us.  That’s why we’re tipping New Zealand even though they’re coming off a loss only a few days ago.

The Longshot

Great money on Umar Akmal to top score for Pakistan.  $6.50 at Betstar.

Cricket: Dunedin double header to settle series

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

With New Zealand in the box seat of the one day series the Dunedin double will settle the series in New Zealand’s favour or allow Sri Lanka to play for a drawn in Wellington.  New Zealand are odds on favourites after an excellent chase in Nelson.

The dept the New Zealand team is building is proving a little too challenging for a Sri Lanka team, who for the most part, are out of form.

The Last Time These Two Met

Nelson hosted a close game of cricket on Tuesday that saw the Black Caps get home by four wickets when chasing a tricky 277.  New Zealand’s chase was anchored by the always impressive Kane Williamson, and finished off by a damaging cameo from Luke Ronchi.  Williamson scored his fifth one day international hundred, showing excellent composure as others around him were dismissed in quick succession in a collapse that saw the hosts reduced to 63/3.  Luke Ronchi’s hitting came in the 48th over where he bashed Thisara Perara for 24.

New Zealand’s four wicket win gives them a 2-0 series lead, and takes some of the gloss of Sri Lanka’s decent batting effort.  Batting first the Sri Lankan’s made 276 on the back of Kumar Sangakkara (76) and Mahela Jayawardene (94).  However, the score had had been more devastating if it weren’t for continuous wickets and an inability from the lower order to offer Jayawardene support.

The Teams

New Zealand (likely):  1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Tom Latham/Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum/ Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Trent Boult

Few changes expected with only the spin option to be determined.  Nathan McCullum looks more likely.

Sri Lanka (likely):  1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Thisara Perara, 8 Jeevan Mendis, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Suranga Lakmal/Rangana Herath

The world is awaiting the return of Lasith Malinga but unfortunately he won’t be fit until February.

The Key Players

Nathan McCullum/ Daniel Vettori – New Zealand won’t play two spinners in any of their World Cup matches, meaning a tense duel is emerging between Vettori and McCullum to secure the single spot.  By experience, Vettori has the edge.  By wicket-taking intent and strike rate, it’s McCullum.  Economy brings it back towards Vettori.  Either way it’s an intriguing battle, which plays out its next stanza with McCullum scheduled to play in Dunedin.

Tillakaratne Dilshan – Dilshan is in som decent nick at the top of the order and is exuding confidence.  There’s no fear of the Black Caps new ball bowlers, so he should be at his free scoring best again on the pristine University Oval surface.

The Match Odds*

New Zealand – $1.55

Sri Lanka – $3.00

*Courtesy of TopBetta.

The Prediction

New Zealand have the momentum, and they also have a better team of contributors.  From 1-11 the entire team are contributing to totals, wickets and wins, whereas the Sri Lankans are relying on the usual suspects.  If Sri Lanka are to win they need more support from the likes of Thirimanne, Karunaratne, Perara and Mendis.  But we can’t see that happening – we’ll go with NZ to make the series unloseable.

The Longshot

University Oval is short straight so there should be a large number of 6s hit.  How about taking a bet on both teams to hit the same number of 6s.  It’s paying $7.50 at TopBetta.

Cricket: Guptill hopes to continue new found form in Nelson

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

It’s very uncommon if a New Zealand cricketing summer doesn’t get affected by rain at least once, so it should come as no surprise that after a series of perfect weather the one part of the country that was benefiting from one of its best summer’s should have a match washed out.

Both teams then will enjoy the change of scenery to one of New Zealand’s sunniest – Nelson.  Game four at Saxton Oval is an important one in the scope of the series.  While a drawn series is still a possibility after the washout, the winner of today’s game will take a giant stride in taking out the series.

Saxton has hosted only one previous ODI, so it’s difficult to predict how it will play.  One thing is clear though – both sides will welcome the sunshine.

The Last Time These Two Met

Eden Parks’ game two was washed out after only 28.5 overs of stop start play was possible.  In that time New Zealand had worked their way to 145/3 with Martin Guptill returning to form with an unbeaten 66.  Guptill’s runs, including four 4’s and three 6’s, were made after a sluggish start.  They were exactly what the doctor ordered for the New Zealand team that were becoming too reliant on captain Brendon McCullum.  If Guptill can continue his form, turn over the strike a bit more, it will ease the pressure on McCullum and should set up some big totals.  Tom Latham also pitched in with 42, and Angelo Matthews had all 3 wickets for Sri Lanka.

The Teams

New Zealand (likely):  1 Martin Guptill, 2 Brendon McCullum (capt), 3 Tom Latham/Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Grant Elliott, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk) , 7 Corey Anderson, 8 Nathan McCullum/ Daniel Vettori, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Matt Henry/Trent Boult

Kane Williamson who is such a key part of the Black Caps World Cup plans is regaining fitness and may be included if feeling up to it on the day.  Grant Elliot is available, and the bowlers will likely continue their musical chairs.

Sri Lanka (likely):  1 Dimuth Karunaratne, 2 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Angelo Mathews (capt), 6 Lahiru Thirimanne, 7 Thisara Perara, 8 Jeevan Mendis, 9 Nuwan Kulasekara, 10 Sachithra Senanayake, 11 Suranga Lakmal/Rangana Herath

Sri Lanka have added leg-spinning allrounder Seekkuge Prasanna and quick Dushmantha Chameera as cover for Suranga Lakmal, and Rangana Herath is also under an injury cloud.  However, we expect the team to line up as above and Herath to be available.  His fielding is never important and his action so compete he should be okay to play with the slight niggle.

The Key Players

Tim Southee – In the series thus far New Zealand have struggled to take early wickets.  Hundreds have come from Sri Lanka’s opener and number 4, which means the Black Caps inability to make quick inroads is hurting them.  One player who can turn that around is the retuning Tim Southee.  He didn’t get a chance in Auckland due to the rain but he’ll love bowling in the swing friendly conditions of Nelson.

Angelo Mathews – As a captain he probably under-utlises himself at the bowling crease, but he needn’t.  Unless the reasons for doing so are injury related, Matthews should continue to trust himself to either stifle runs or take valuable wickets.  His three at Eden Park may give him the confidence to bowl more.  If not, he’s still a key player for his batsmanship.

The Match Odds*

New Zealand – $1.50

Sri Lanka – $2.60

*Courtesy of Unibet.

The Prediction

New Zealand benefited more than Sri Lanka did in the washout at Auckland.  Martin Guptill’s open wicket net session was the perfect tonic for him to return to form; Latham too.  Therefore, we’re picking a New Zealand win on the back of a complete batting performance (maybe even more runs from Guptill if you fancy a top run-scorer flutter).

Cricket: Williamson and Watling instigate turnaround win

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As far as come from behind victories go, this could easily top the list.  For once, New Zealand’s Black Caps battled back from certain defeat to register an improbable comeback win over Sri Lanka at the Basin Reserve after falling dangerously behind on the first innings, and further behind half way through their second innings.

Instead of collapsing to a limp second innings total and surrendering a series lead, the little pair of Kane Williamson and BJ Watling added 365 runs, in 111.3 overs, over an entire day’s play (in terms of balls faced) to completely transform a match that was in Sri Lanka’s favour for almost every period prior.

There may have been an argument that the Black Caps had some control at 141/2 in the first innings with Williamson and Ross Taylor at the crease, however, they both fell, for 69 and 32 respectively, and both to inside edges as Sri Lanka rampaged their way through the tail to limit NZ to just 221.  The Sri Lankan seamers, led by Nuwan Pradeep, bounced back from the criticism they received in Christchurch with a nice display on surface that did not help as much as predicted.

Just as quickly though Sri Lanka returned the momentum to NZ by collapsing themselves to 78/5 at stumps on day one.  This was the second of many shifts in dominance in the test and it wasn’t the last.  Day two brought with it another surprise and am absolute gem of an effort from Kumar Sangakkara.  He started the day as the key wicket, and handled the responsibility admirably as he expertly shepherded the tail to ensure his side achieved a healthy lead.  In the process he scored 203, including his 12,000th test run.

While the lead was only 135, it was looking exceedingly better than that when the Black Caps suffered from a classic case of the middle order collapse disease they have so often been affected by.  At 159/5 they were effectively just 24 runs in credit and five wickets down; they shouldn’t have won.

The epic unbroken partnership beat the record – only recently set by Brendon McCullum and Watling at the same ground against India last year (McCullum’s 300) – for the highest sixth wicket partnership in all of cricket.  Williamson (242*) made his first double hundred despite gifting upwards of five chances to the fielding team, and Watling (142*) inched his way to a fourth test century.

The partnership also deflated the Sri Lankans.  They spent 172 overs in the field (almost two full days) and were understandably tired as they began a hefty fourth innings chase of 390.  It was inevitably too much for them; bowled out in the second session for 196.  Lahiru Thirimanne got most of those, his 62* a welcome return to form for a key member of the ODI squad and World Cup plans.  Mark Craig continue his rapid ascent in the cricketing stocks by taking 4-53; performing a spinners key fourth innings role diligently.

Kane Williamson was man of the match.  If you need reasons – the first innings, second innings, and a screamer to dismiss Angelo Matthews in SL’s second dig.

ODI’s next.  Starting in Christchurch on 11 January.

New Zealand 221 (Williamson 69, Pradeep 4-63) and 524 for 5 dec (Williamson 242*, Watling 142*) beat Sri Lanka 356 (Sangakkara 203, Chandimal 67) and 196 (Thirimanne 62*, Craig 4-63) by 193 runs