New Zealand and Australia contest the final of the T20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday and we take a look at a number of betting options available to punters.

 

 

 

Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change

 

New Zealand

 

New Zealand are appearing in their first ever World T20 final. They beat England in the semi finals in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday by 5 wickets, pulling off a thrilling run chase in the process. England posted 166/4 with Southee (1/24) the pick of 7 bowlers used. Guptill fell in the first over of the chase but fellow opener Daryl Mitchell made an unbeaten 72, Devon Conway hit 46 and a quick fire 27 from James Neesham helped NZ get home with an over to spare.

 

New Zealand finished as runners up to Pakistan in their pool. They were beaten by Pakistan by 5 wickets in their opening match before their most impressive result, an 8 wicket win over India put them back in contention. NZ had to be foot perfect from there onwards and although they made harder than expected work of Scotland (won by 16 runs), they held their nerve to see off Namibia (52 runs) and Afghanistan (8 wickets).

 

Martin Guptill is the leading NZ run scorer in the tournament with 180 in 6 matches and Trent Boult has taken 11 wickets, also in 6 matches.

 

This is how New Zealand lined up last time out

Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult

 

Australia

 

Australia beat Pakistan by 5 wickets in the second semi final which was staged at this venue on Thursday. Pakistan posted a hefty 176/4 batting first (Starc 2/38) and despite 49 from David Warner Australia were in trouble at 95/5 after 12.2 overs. Marcus Stoinis (40 not out off 31 balls) and Matthew Wade (41 not out off just 17 balls) turned the game on its head and Australia got home with 1 over to spare.

 

Australia finished as runners up to England in their Super 12 group with a record of 4 wins and 1 defeat. They edged out the Proteas after boosting their net rate in their final 2 matches which saw them thrash Bangladesh and West Indies (both by 8 wickets). Earlier results saw Australia beat South Africa (5 wickets) and Sri Lanka (7 wickets) before they suffered a 8 wicket defeat to England.

 

David Warner is the leading Australian run scorer in the tournament with 236 in 6 innings. Adam Zampa has taken 12 wickets, 5 of which came in 1 match against Bangladesh at this venue.

 

Australia's only other appearance in a World T20 final came in the Caribbean in 2010 when they were beaten by England.

 

This is how they lined up last time out

 

David Warner, Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade (wk), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood

 

Head to Head

 

Overall the teams have met 14 times with New Zealand winning 4 to Australia's 9 with 1 tie.

 

The teams last met in New Zealand in February / March this year. NZ won the first 2 matches of a 5 match series, Australia won the next 2 and New Zealand won the decider.

 

 

The Betting

 

New Zealand are currently trading at around 27/20 to win the game and Australia can be backed at around 6/10

 

Guptill and Williamson are 11/4 joint favourites to top score for New Zealand and Warner is 5/2 to do likewise for Australia

 

New Zealand are 5/4 to hit the most sixes with Australia 17/20 and a tie is 7/1

 

Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change

 

The Verdict

 

Both these sides were underdogs in their respective semi finals and both pulled off thrilling run chases and from a betting point of view I'm looking deep to the exotics.

 

The Player Performance market is of interest and for those not familiar with it points are awarded as follows. Run = 1pt. Catch = 10pts. Wicket = 20pts. Stumping = 25pts. The all round talents of James Neesham sway me towards him beating a quote of 27.5. He bowled 2 overs and took a wicket against England, can obviously contribute with the bat in the middle order and is a handy fielder so there is plenty of scope for him to accumulate points.

 

In the Man of the Match market Adam Zampa seems attractively priced at 12/1 given he is leading wicket taker for Australia and his bowling is usually very economical.

 

Finally, gut feel is that the Australia bowlers can prevent any New Zealander reaching 50.

 

Bets: Player Performance James Neesham over 27.5 at 17/20

Man of the Match Adam Zampa at 12/1

Half Century Scored by New Zealand? (no) at 21/20

 

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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change

 

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