Match Previews 
/ Andrew Hughes / 27 February 2011 / Leave a Comment 
Back Brendan to top score
"Brendon Taylor is the classiest bat in the Zimbabwe line-up and though he struggled against Australia’s pace bowlers, Canada’s medium pace dobblers should be much more to his liking."
Both these teams were thrashed in their opening fixtures but this is a chance for two of the Group A minnows to get a win on the board
London Start Time: 04:00
Venue and Conditions
A slow but true pitch and a fast outfield had characterised the three ODIs played at this ground, including England's win over Netherlands last week. So Friday's low scoring affair between Australia and New Zealand was a slight surprise, as was the variable bounce. That said, even if the pitch is wearing a little, neither of these sides have the quick bowlers to exploit it in the way that Australia did.
Team News
Canada opted to protect their talented youngsters Hiral Patel and Nitish Kumar for their opening game against Sri Lanka, but after a woeful batting performance, both are likely to get their chance here. Zimbabwe will probably be unchanged, though they may consider bringing all-rounder Greg Lamb for Regis Chakabva.
Match Odds
This is an intriguing match-up between two improving Associate teams. Though both were blown away by top class seam and pace bowling in their opening games, it has to be remembered that they were up against two of the tournament favourites. Canada do have one or two exciting young batsmen and could cause a surprise here, but at [1.23] I'm going to side with Zimbabwe, who have the stronger bowling and who put in a sparkling fielding performance against Australia.
Top Batsman
Rizwan Cheema caught the headlines pre-tournament with his innings against England and top scored against Sri Lanka, but the reliable selection in the Canadian line up is dependable accumulator Ashish Bagai, who can be backed at [5.5]
Brendan Taylor is the classiest bat in the Zimbabwe line-up and though he struggled against Australia's pace bowlers, Canada's medium pace dobblers should be much more to his liking. He should be backed at [4.0] or better
Featured Market
The average number of fours in ODIs at this ground is 50 so you should consider backing '50 or more' in the Total Fours market at [2.25] or better
Best Bet
Back Brendan Taylor to top score for Zimbabwe at [4.0]
No comments:
Post a Comment