Australia and South Africa contest the opening match of the T20 World Cup in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and the Aussies start as the bookmakers favourites.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Australia
Long term odds
To win the tournament 7/1
To reach the final 2.75/1
Top Australian batsmen in the tournament Finch and Warner are both 9/4
Top Australian bowler in the tournament Starc 5/2
T20 World Cup form
Australia have made it to the World T20 final just the once. That was back in 2010 in the Caribbean when they lost to England. In the 2016 World Cup in India they won 2 and lost 2 of their pool matches and missed out on the knockout rounds.
Recent Form
Australian won the first of their warm up matches against New Zealand by 3 wickets, chasing down 159 for victory with a ball to spare. On Wednesday they posted 152/5 against India who made short work of the target, coasting to a 9 wicket win in 17.5 overs.
South Africa
Long term odds
To win the tournament 12/1
To reach the final 4/1
Top South African batsmen in the tournament Quinton de Kock 14/10
Top South African bowler in the tournament Rabada 5/2
T20 World Cup form
In 6 previous editions of the World T20 South Africa have yet to make it to a final. In the World T20 in 2016 in India the Proteas won 2 and lost 2 of their group matches and failed to make the semi finals.
Recent Form
The Proteas won both their warm up matches. They beat Afghanistan by 41 runs on Monday, posting 145/5 and restricting the opposition to 104/8. On Wednesday van der Dussen scored 101 as SA chased down Pakistan's bat first total of 186/6 in a 6 wicket victory.
Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 21 times with Australia winning 13 to South Africa's 8.
The most recent meetings came in South Africa in February 2020 and Australia won a 3 match series 2-1.
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The Betting
Australia are currently trading at around 0.72/1 to win the game and South Africa can be backed at around 11/10
The highest first 6 overs total market has Australia at 8/10 and South Africa are 9/10
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
With the likes of West Indies and England also in this group a winning start will be vital and I will look outside of the match result for bet.
How much you read into warm up results is open to debate but there was no doubting the form of Rassie van der Dussen after his ton in the most recent warm up and he gets the vote to top score for the Proteas.
Steve Smith has a 50 to his name in the warm ups and he is my choice in the Aussie top bat market.
Bets: Top SA Bat Rassie van der Dussen at 9/2
Top Australia Bat Steve Smith at 4/1
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
