Pakistan clash with New Zealand in a T20 World Cup Group 2 match in Sharjah on Tuesday, it's the first action of the tournament for New Zealand whilst Pakistan are already off to a flyer.
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
Pakistan
Pakistan came up against arch rivals and outright tournament favourites India in their opening match in Dubai on Sunday. They were 15/10 underdogs in the early betting but landed a crushing 10 wicket win with a terrific all round display.
Pakistan won the toss and opted to bowl first and Shaheen Afridi removed both Indian openers with just 6 runs on the board and went on to claim a third wicket and the Man of the Match award. India did stage a recovery and their innings closed on 151/7. At that stage India must have thought they were well and truly back in the game but Rizwan (79 off 55) and Babar Azam (68 off 52) made short work of the chase, leading Pakistan to a landslide win in 17.5 overs.
This was how Pakistan lined up on Sunday.
Babar Azam (c), Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Hasan Ali, Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi
Last week Pakistan were trading at around 7/1 to win the tournament and those odds have now halved.
New Zealand
This is New Zealand's first action of the tournament so lets take a look at some of their long term betting markets.
Long term odds
To win the tournament 8/1
To reach the final 28/10
Top New Zealand batsmen in the tournament Guptill 22/10
Top New Zealand bowler in the tournament Boult 5/2
T20 World Cup form
New Zealand have never made it to a World T20 final and in India in 2016 they won all 4 of their group matches (Super 10) including a 22 run victory over Pakistan but they lost to England in the semi finals.
Recent Form
New Zealand lost both their warm up matches, to Australia by 3 wickets and to England by 13 runs and they will select from the following squad:
Martin Guptill, Daryl Mitchell, Kane Williamson (c), Devon Conway, Tim Seifert (wk), Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Mark Chapman, Lockie Ferguson
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Head to Head
Overall the teams have met 24 times with Pakistan winning 14 to New Zealand's 10
The most recent meeting came in New Zealand in December 2020 when the Black Caps won a 3 match series 2-1.
The Betting
Pakistan are currently trading at around 15/20 to win the game and New Zealand can be backed at around 11/10
Pakistan are 12/10 to hit the most 6's with New Zealand 9/10 and a tie is 13/2
The highest first 6 overs total market has Pakistan at 9/10 and New Zealand are also 9/10
Note all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
The Verdict
Pakistan's brilliant performance against India is hard to get away from and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go in again although this New Zealand side does include some very dangerous customers.
The calm head of Kane Williamson is my pick to top score for the New Zealanders at a price which seems pretty fair given his wealth of experience. Shaheen Afridi's 3 wicket haul against India makes him a worthy favourite to be top Pakistan bowler.
Bets: Top NZ bat Kane Williamson at 3/1
Top Pakistan Bowler Shaheen Afridi at 2/1
Note, odds quoted are subject to change
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