Cricket Betting – Bet on England v New Zealand One Day Internationals
CRICKET – ENGLAND v NEW ZEALAND – ONE DAY SERIES
The One Day International (ODI) series between England and New Zealand consists of five matches, played on June 15th at the Riverside Ground, Durham, June18th at Edgbaston, Birmingham, June 21st at the County Ground, Hove, June 25th at The Oval and June 28th at Lord’s.
England are a best-priced 4/6 to win the series, with Paddy Power, skybet and Stan James, with New Zealand 11/8 with 888sport and Blue Square.
NEWS, KEY PLAYERS
England coach Peter Moores expects New Zealand to provide far tougher opposition in the upcoming ODI series than in a one-sided Test campaign. England cruised to a 2-0 Test series victory with an innings and nine run win, achieved with more than a day to spare, at Trent Bridge, following a 2-1 series win in New Zealand in March. The five ODIs should see the Black Caps in a far better light. New Zealand beat England 3-1 in a one-day series on home soil in February, and are ranked third in the world in the 50 over game. Last year, they reached the semi-finals of the World Cup, beating England in the pool phase. On their previous tour of England, four years ago, New Zealand won a triangular ODI series also featuring the West Indies. Moores pointed out that, as a one-day side, England are still experimenting with several roles and settling as a team, with plenty to concentrate on and will need to play very well to win the ODI series.
New Zealand skipper, Daniel Vettori, expects a marked improvement from his team in the limited overs format. “We’re a lot more confident in that format, maybe because it’s shorter and we don’t have to perform for long periods,” Vettori said. However, the left-arm spinner added, “We know we have to pick it up though, because England have the momentum. We beat them convincingly back home and we have to make sure we do that again over here to get anything out of this tour at all.” The New Zealand squad features several changes, with one-day specialist Scott Styris bolstering the middle order and Mark Gillespie adding back-up to the bowling department. Jesse Ryder had a huge impact in New Zealand’s home series and is sure to be missed. However, the presence of Brendon McCullum ensures that sufficient damaging potential remains high in the batting order.
Despite successive Test series defeats to England, Vettori is still relishing the challenge of being captain. He said, “I am enjoying it thoroughly. It is very hard but it is also very rewarding. I wouldn’t want to be in the background, I would much rather be in front trying to lead with performances.” Daniel Flynn erased some self-doubt and is now seeking a permanent New Zealand one-day international batting spot as a specialist “finisher”. One of the few positives to emerge from New Zealand’s latest test defeat, Flynn has been earmarked for the no. 6 spot in the order. The “vacancy” has been created by Brendon McCullum’s move to opening bat, along with Craig McMillan’s retirement. 23 year-old Flynn, following a third ball duck in the first innings, batted for over 2½ hours in the second innings for 49, in a stand of 94 with McCullum. Flynn still kicked himself for getting out late on the third day, one of several New Zealanders caught “fishing” at wide deliveries. After two dour innings at Lord’s and Trent Bridge, Flynn was looking forward to “opening his shoulders” in the ODIs. His only ODI innings to date was a four-ball duck against England in Christchurch in February. He scored two flamboyant one-day centuries for Northern Districts in the summer, and after his test performances, Bracewell is convinced he can be just as effective in the black uniform.
The New Zealanders sent out a warning ahead of the one-day series as Brendon McCullum’s 123 from just 98 balls led them to a 95 run victory against Worcestershire. McCullum was again behind the stumps after suffering back problems in the Test Bridge Test match. Though New Zealand were back in the more comfortable area of limited overs cricket, McCullum’s batting needs little adjustment for the different formats. The Worcestershire bowling attack (missing the rested Simon Jones) were unable to contain him. He scored 12 fours and three sixes, reaching a hundred off just 83 balls. McCullum and Jamie How made an opening stand of 101 from 90 balls. McCullum then teamed up with Ross Taylor (75 from 71 balls) to add 142 fro the second wicket. Scott Styris contributed a useful 36 off 27 balls as the total moved past 350. Worcestershire almost managed to match the New Zealanders for scoring at the start of the innings, with Vikram Solanki and Steven Davies adding 98 in 18 overs. However, when Davies was run out after a mix-up with Solanki, five wickets fell for 29, three of them to Styris, who showed the value of his troublesome medium pace
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