The T20 World Cup Super 8 stage gets under way on Wednesday 19th June when USA take on South Africa followed by England's clash with the West Indies.
USA v South Africa
Antigua is the venue for the first of the Super 8 matches and these teams have landed in Group 2.
USA came through the pool stage as runners up to India with Pakistan the big casualties and Canada and Ireland also missed out. They started with a 7 wicket win over Canada and the key result came in their second outing when they beat Pakistan in a Super Over. Both those games were staged in Dallas and next time out the USA were no match for India, going down by 7 wickets in New York. Their final group match against Ireland was washed out and the extra point ensured USA would make it to the Super 8's.
The Proteas first 3 pool matches were all staged in New York where scoring big was extremely difficult. They started with a 6 wicket win over Sri Lanka and then recovered from 12/4 to chase down the Netherlands total of 103 for a 4 wicket win. Next up a 4 run victory over Bangladesh clinched a Super 8 place although it was mighty close with Bangladesh having a man caught on the boundary in the final over. South Africa moved on to St. Vincent for their final pool match but despite being overwhelming favourites they could manage only 115/7 against Nepal who came up just 1 run short in the chase. Anrich Nortje has been the stand out performer with the ball, taking 9 wickets in total.
The Betting
USA are trading at 42/10 to win the game with the Proteas at 0.15/1 with BoyleSports
At the time of writing South Africa are 62/10 to win the tournament and USA are the 115/1 outsiders.
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
Even taking conditions into account the Proteas must have concerns over their batting. In a recent match in Antigua England smashed 122 in 10 overs in a rain affected match with Namibia so this might offer a chance for the top order to get some runs under their belts.
I'd rather look to the USA team for a bet. Aaron Jones has scored 141 runs in just 3 knocks and although 94 of those came in their clash with Canada and I'll go with his price boost to hit 2 or more sixes.
Bet: Aaron Jones to hit 2 or more sixes was 3/1 now 9/2 with Sportingbet
England v West Indies
This game takes place in the early hours of Thursday morning in St. Lucia
England had ground to make up in order to come through their group as distant runners up to Australia. They won 2, lost 1 and had 1 game washed out and they edged out Scotland on net run rate with Namibia and Oman also failing to make it.
Host nation West Indies won all 4 of their pool matches to top their pool ahead of Afghanistan with New Zealand the big casualties and Uganda and PNG found it tough going. Pooran has scored 164 runs in 4 knocks including 98 on this ground in a landslide win over Afghanistan.
The Betting
England are trading at 15/20 to win the game with the West Indies at even money with BoyleSports
At the time of writing England are 11/2 to win the tournament and West Indies are 6/1.
Prices subject to change
The Verdict
WI will benefit from having put in a terrific display against Afghan at this venue where Pooran almost scored a ton and Obed McCoy took 3/14 in 3 overs. It could pay to follow one or both but I'll play conservatively and go with a top individual score of 67 or more.
Bet: Top Batsman Total Runs over 66.5 at 17/20 with BoyleSports
More tips are available on this dedicated T20 World Cup thread on our discussion forum
