Australia v New Zealand (4:30AM)
While both sides are coming off wins against lower-ranked sides, New Zealand routed their opponent brutally, while Australia managed to escape the consequences of a mediocre batting performance with some blistering pace bowling.
Starting with New Zealand’s there’s reason to believe that the Kenya performance might be “false”. Firstly, its’s cealr that Kenya are a fair way below Zimbabwe in terms of talent (a point which is open to debate specifically on rankings). And it’s also been proven by Kenya’s renewed showing against Pakistan that their bowlers and batsmen were nowhere near their best and overawed by the occasion.
Their batting line-up looks quite strong with the likes of Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Ross Taylor and Scott Styris to call upon.
Their bowlers will be full of confidence after a match full of gifts against Kenya. Tim Southee helped himself to three cheap wickets, while Jacob Oram also picked up three in three overs and Hamish Bennett did the rest. However things are likely to be different a very high scoring pitch, against a better attack. It remains to be seen how New Zeland’s quick bowlers handle this track while a lot will depend on spinners Vettori and Nathan McCullum.
The injury to Michael Hussey leaves a huge gaping hole in the middle-order for Australia, just when they didn’t need it after a poor batting display against Zimbabwe. Watson apart, he is Australia’s best batsman and arguably one of the best in the game.
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| Shane Watson - Likely to have big say in game. |
As it stands, much depends on Ponting's form at No. 3. He got couple of hard-earned fifties in the warm-up games and looked to be slowly progressing against Zimbabwe, but his running mistakes have been crucial and an error in that department could curtail a big knock, which is coming based on recent history (Ponting has scored 3 half centuries in two of his last three against New Zealand and averages 46.60 against the Black Caps).
The man to save Australia is Shane Watson, if they should need saving that is. His 78 against Zimbabwe saved quite a few red faces and he’ll fancy himself to do the same here, having a good record on these pitches of late. He can do well again.
Mitchell Johnson has had a mixed summer, dropped for a test during the Ashes for some abysmally poor and wayward bowling, before returning strongly in Perth with a match-winning performance. He was considerably better during the ODIs and took 4 wickets as the pacemen got the Aussies out of a hole in their opening game.
The main man though, is Brett Lee. His pace has barely dropped at all since his heyday and he has all the guile and experience of a long international career to fall back on. He ripped England apart in the recent series, taking 16 wickets in total and is the one to fear here, having gotten the best out of these pitches already.
All in all, a tight and high scoring game can be expected here but the gut feeling is to side with Australia, who have to improve from their opening game but can do so against a New Zealand side who didn’t answer many questions in a farcical opening game against Kenya.
Advice
2 pts Australia -3.5 Wickets/25.5 Runs (5/6 Sportingbet)
1 pt Shane Watson to score over 30.5 runs (5/6 Ladbrokes)
Bangladesh v Ireland (9AM)
Not a clash of the heavyweights seeing as both sides are associates, but one not to be sniffed at given what’s at stake and the rising profile of both teams.
Bangladesh know it will be near impossible to make the quarter-finals, something the passionate fans and the team want desperately, if they fail to beat Ireland. Ireland also harbour ambitions of making the next round, and they know this is their best chance of beating a Test side.
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| Tamim Iqbal - One of the key men for Bangladesh |
They boast two high class players in explosive opener Tamim Iqbal and canny all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and Their latest two series have seen 4-0 and 3-1 home wins over New Zealand and Zimbabwe respectively and they currently have two bowlers in the ODI world top five. Here at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium they’re a tough nut to crack and they made 283 against India, and a similar performance will with the bat will put them in the driving seat, with Tamim Iqubal looking to bulid on a
The bowling wasn’t so great against India, however. Shakib Al Hasan, having gone at 6.10 runs per over and picked up one wicket, was the second best bowler, with only Rubel Hossain going lower. That kind of bowling must be improved but Ireland’s batting line up will hold no fears and in the end it was a massive effort to only lose by 83 runs.
Despite carrying the minnows tag, Ireland will not be taken lightly after their surprising performance in the previous edition in the Carribean. The 2007 team that was led by Trent Johnston caused a major upset when they beat Pakistan, which eventually led to the Asian Giants being eliminated from the tournament.
Ireland opener William Porterfield has been in sublime touch with the bat over the warm-ups played over the last couple of weeks, scoring two fifties. Ed Joyce, who played for England four years ago, has injected his professionalism into the no. 3 spot, and has been scoring freely over the last four games, with two 40s and a 50, highlighting the good form that Ireland take. In their warm ups, Ireland stayed close on New Zealand’s heels as they attempted to chase down a massive 311 in Nagpur, before forcing a win against a Zimbabwe side that gave one of the best performances by an associate against Australia in both the batting and bowling departments.
Ireland’s bowling hopes rest on Boyd Rankin, who’s been put under wraps for the last few games in a medium-pace-heavy Irish attack. Kevin O’ Brien can handle the new ball while Trent Johnston and Alex Cusack have been steady and could use the slower ball if the irrational wicket turns in his favour.
In what could be an excellent match, all the appeal lies with Bangladesh after their valiant fight against India in the tournament opener, and their score of 287 was excellent given the quality of opposition they were against. Clearly they’ll need to tidy up their bowling quite a bit against a useful batting side in Ireland but they’re the clear pick on home turf.
Advice
2 pts Bangladesh -3.5 Wickets/30.5 Runs (5/6 Sportingbet)
2 pts Tamim Iqbal to score more than 29.5 runs (5/6 Ladbrokes)
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