New Zealand v India First T20I: Prediction & 3 Bets To Take

The two beaten semi-finalists of the recently concluded T20 World Cup square off tomorrow morning as New Zealand take on India at the Sky Stadium in Wellington. The Black Caps have named a strong squad for this three-match T20I series while the visitors have selected a fairly young squad which will be led by Hardik Pandya.

Cricket punter has you covered with 3 bets to take for the first T20I of the series.

Glenn Phillips

Glenn Phillips has been the top batter for New Zealand this year in T20Is scoring 650 runs at a strike rate of 155.13 while averaging 46.42. He also had a fantastic T20 World Cup scoring 201 runs at an average of 40.20 and an outstanding strike rate of 158.26 which got him into the Team of the Tournament.

He’ll be looking to continue from where he left off and is great value to be New Zealand’s top batsman with the likes of Devon Conway and Finn Allen looking out of form in recent matches.

Most Sixes

New Zealand have hit the most sixes in four of their last six T20I matches while India have struck the most sixes in just one of their last seven matches against New Zealand. This one is a bit of a no-brainer, back the home side to hit the most sixes.

Suryakumar Yadav

It’s unclear whether the number one-ranked T20 batsman in the world will feature in this match. If he does, I expect him to continue with his fine form in this format especially after performing so well for India in the T20 World Cup scoring 239 runs at an unbelievable strike rate of 189.68. Back him to score over 23.5 runs in this game.

Prediction

New Zealand have lost each of their last five home T20Is against India but boast an impressive 7-2 record in their last nine home matches against all opposition making this match a difficult one to call. There’s a lot of value in backing this young Indian side at 2.10.