Couch Critic provides his betting tips for the first test match between New Zealand and England which gets underway at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui as Wednesday night turns into Thursday morning
NEW ZEALAND vs ENGLAND Mount Maunganui – Thursday, 21 November @ 00:01
SETTING THE SCENE
The World Cup finalists are back at it again but this time in whites as the Black Caps host a fresh-looking English side at Mount Maunganui for the first test of the two-test series.
New Zealand have recently had the beating of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka on their own turf whilst scraping a series victory over Pakistan in the UAE and drawing away to Sri Lanka. Their recent form saw them shoot up the ICC test rankings (as well as some of their stars like Williamson, Nicholls and Latham with the bat and Boult and Wagner with the ball). Having had good success against sub-continent opponents they will now have to show that they truly have taken a step up by matching the English.
England arrive on Kiwi shores with a particularly fresh-looking batting order. Having figuratively dropped the ball quite humiliatingly in the Caribbean earlier in the year they showed plenty of fight in the Ashes but ultimately a lack of consistent significant totals left them in the lurch. Dom Sibley and Ollie Pope are likely to be tasked with adding oomph to the batting line-up for the first test.
LET’S TALK TACTICS
New Zealand have grown into a solid test side. They are no longer purely reliant on Kane Williamson (though he remains one of the premier batsmen in test cricket). Nicholls, Latham and Taylor are all on hand to assist with the run making. Of course, in the face of the fiery challenge posed by Jofra Archer the home side will require more than one player to roll up his sleeves and help get enough runs on the board.
Faced with having to front up to the hostilities of Archer the Black Caps could opt to unleash their own tear-away quick in Lockie Ferguson. The New Zealand paceman was the second highest wicket taker at the World Cup yet, much like Archer, has had much more exposure to white ball cricket than the longer format (at time of writing his selection looked unlikely for the first test). Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Tim Southee have however formed a very effective trio that should test an under pressure English batting lineup whether Lockie is unleashed or not.
The Poms have made some personnel changes but ultimately need their talisman, Joe Root, to find his groove again. Stokes continues to be an irreplaceable cog in England’s wheel as he brings much needed balance with his exploits with both bat and ball.
HOW I SEE IT PLAYING OUT
Batting should be a breeze at the Bay Oval yet as is the norm with test cricket the new ball will be vital. Both teams have some quality quicks at their disposal and as such I wouldn’t be surprised to find the top scores lower down the order once the new cherry has been worn out a touch.
Another guy who finds himself coming to the crease a bit later is Big Red, Ben. Stokes has had the cricketing world at his mercy in 2019 and I see him continuing his current vein of form with another strong series in his country of birth.
Best Bets with BETOLIMP:
Top New Zealand 1st Inns Bat – BJ Watling @ 12.00
Top England 1st Inns Bat – Jos Buttler @ 9.00
Man of the Match – B Stokes @ 15.00
Top New Zealand 1st Inns Bowler – L Ferguson @ 5.50
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
Couch Critic
