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After pulling off an unexpected win against India, New Zealand are now looking to take another big scalp, this time that of near-neighbours and reigning champions Australia.
DATE & TIME: Tuesday 8th October, 2024: UAE – 5:00pm / USA (PST) – 7:00am / USA (EST) - 10:00am / UK – 3:00pm / South Africa - 4:00pm / Pakistan – 7:30pm / India– 7:00pm / Bangladesh – 8:00pm / Wednesday 9th October 2024: Australia – 12:00am
VENUE: Sharjah Cricket Association Stadium, Sharjah, UAE
WEATHER: Sweltering hot conditions, with temperatures at 35c come the start of play with bright sunshine.
HOW TO WATCH ON TV: USA – Willow TV / West Indies – ESPN Caribbean / UK – Sky Sports / South Africa – SuperSport / Pakistan – PTV Sports & TEN Sports / India – Star Sports / Bangladesh – Nagorik TV
HOW TO WATCH ONLINE: USA – Willow TV website / West Indies – ESPN Play Caribbean app / UK – Sky Go / South Africa – SuperSport app / Pakistan – Myco, Tamasha & Shoq / India – Disney+Hotstar / Bangladesh – Toffee / Australia – Amazon Prime Video
HOW TO GET TICKETS FOR THE 2024 ICC WOMEN’S T20 WORLD CUP: Click here for the latest ticket information for the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup
AUSTRALIA FORM: COMFORTABLE WIN TO OPEN THINGS UP
Australia put in a disciplined bowling performance to keep Sri Lanka down to 93/7 in their opening game, which was always unlikely to be enough against the team with arguable the best batting depth in the tournament. Indeed, Australia reached their victory target in 14.2 overs with six wickets remaining.
NEW ZEALAND FORM: BATS POWER WHITE FERNS TO VICTORY
New Zealand’s tournament was always going to be determined by how their experienced batters performed and if Friday was anything to go by, it’ll be a successful one for the White Ferns. Sophie Devine smoked an unbeaten half-century as her side powered to 160/4 batting first. Three of the top four recorded scores of over 20 as the bowlers proceeded to skittle India out for 102.
AUSTRALIA BETTING ANALYSIS
Whilst she may not be a spin-bowler, Megan Schutt’s pace makes her a wicket-taking threat in any conditions. This was demonstrated in Sharjah as she picked up three scalps for the loss of just 12 runs against Sri Lanka. Although New Zealand’s power-hitters provides a tougher challenge, Schutt’s potency remains a key weapon for the Aussies and she is worth backing to record 2+ wickets for the second consecutive match.
NEW ZEALAND BETTING ANALYSIS
Although we stressed the quality and power threat that Sophie Devine posed in our analysis of New Zealand’s last game, our recommended bet did not come through as Devine struck seven fours, not hitting the over 0.5 match sixes we were looking for. Sharjah has proven to be very difficult to clear the rope with a vast outfield and deep boundaries. With that in mind, a better move this time round may be to utilise the ‘Batter Total Match Fours’ market and back Devine to score over 1.5 match fours instead.
AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND EXPERT PREDICTION
If New Zealand perform as well with the bat as they did vs India, then Australia will be in big trouble over the course of this encounter. But as we know, Australia in major ICC tournaments are a formidable beast and the likes of Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt will be significantly tougher to score freely against. Combine that with their own deep batting order and backing Australia to make it two wins from two is the move to make.
AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND TOP TIP: AUSTRALIA TO WIN