Sydney is the venue for the first of the T20 World Cup semi finals on Wednesday when New Zealand clash with Pakistan
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
We are down to the last 4 teams with the second semi final between India and England due to take place in Adelaide on Thursday so let's begin with an outright betting show to win the tournament.
India 2/1
England 5/2
New Zealand 3/1
Pakistan 33/10
New Zealand v Pakistan, Sydney Cricket Ground
New Zealand topped Super 12 Group 1 ahead of England on net run rate whilst Australia, who also finished with 7 points missed out. All 3 of those sides won 3, lost 1 and had 1 no result in the S12's and the Black Caps put an early marker down with an 89 run win over Australia at this venue in their first action of the tournament. A subsequent match against Afghanistan was completely washed out and they went on to beat Sri Lanka, again at the SCG, by 65 runs.
Thereafter New Zealand lost to England in Brisbane by 20 runs and most recently a 35 run victory over Ireland in Adelaide saw them through.
This is how New Zealand lined up last time out:
Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
Pakistan lost their first 2 matches, going down to India by 4 wickets in a thrilling finish at the MCG and then losing to Zimbabwe by 1 run in Perth and at that stage a semi final place looked highly unlikely.
They put themselves on the board with a 6 wicket win over the Netherlands in Perth and then beat South Africa by 33 runs (DLS) at this ground. Heading into the final round of matches on Sunday Pakistan still looked to have too much to do but South Africa fluffed their lines against the Netherlands and Pakistan pounced with a 5 wicket win over Bangladesh in Adelaide to snatch second spot as runners up to India.
This is how Pakistan lined up last time out.
Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Haris, Shan Masood, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Nawaz, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
Head to Head
The teams have met 28 times in this format with New Zealand winning 11 and Pakistan have won 17.
A 3 match series staged in New Zealand in October this year finished 2-1 in Pakistan's favour.
The Betting
New Zealand are currently trading at around 8/10 to win the game and Pakistan can be backed at around 9/10
Rizwan is 5/2 to top score for Pakistan and Conway is 11/4 to top score for New Zealand
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
I'm open minded about the match result and will focus on top bat and ball picks.
Conway (92 not out against Australia) and Phillips (104 against Sri Lanka) were the star performers for New Zealand in their 2 earlier matches at the SCG and at the prices available Phillips makes most appeal. Tim Southee gets marginal preference over Boult in the top NZ wicket taker market.
Shaheen Afridi was pivotal to Pakistan's recovery in the S12's and is taken to be top Pakistan wicket taker.
Bets: Top NZ Wicket Taker Southee at 7/2 with Sportingbet
Top NZ Run Scorer Phillips at 4/1 with Sportingbet
Top Pakistan Wicket Taker Shaheen Afridi at 3/1 with Sportingbet
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Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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