Australia will play its first of five T20s against New Zealand tonight when the Tasman rivals do battle at Hagley Oval on Monday evening.
Aaron Finch will captain the Australians while Kane WIlliamson will lead out the Kiwis for what is set to be an entertaining T20 series.
HEAD TO HEAD
22nd February 5:00pm
Ranked second in the world under this format, Australia were beaten 2-1 in a series defeat on home soil by India, but it will be brimming with confidence given its record in and against New Zealand.
The Kiwis have historically struggled against the Australians in this format of cricket, with the travelling nation winning seven of the nine matches contested.
Having never lost a game in New Zealand either, Australia go into this game as favourites but given the recent form of New Zealand there is a solid case to be made for the home team.
Being ranked two rungs below Pakistan was not enough to stop the Kiwis securing a 2-1 series win and it now enters this series against Australia with its proverbial tails up.
Australia do bring with it a host of inform T20 players with the Big Bash series only just finishing.
Batsman Josh Phillipe looks set to make his T20 debut for Australia after being named the player of BBL tournament this summer.
Aaron Finch, Glen Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade will be amongst the batting line-up while spinners Ashton Agar and Adam Zampa will be joined by pace bowlers Riley Meredith, Jason Behrendorff, Andrew Tye and Daniel Sams.
The Kiwis are likely to be at full strength too.
Captain Kane Williamson and Martin Guptill will lead the line with the willow, and Trent Boult will fire away his fast left arm hooping deliveries alongside veteran pace bowler Tim Southee.
The superior record Australia holds against New Zealand has certainly played a major factor in the market here, but the last time the teams played each other was all the way back in the 2017-18 Trans-Tasman Trophy.
Both teams have changed considerably since then and given the recent form of the Kiwis in the short format, they look good value to win this opener.
Suggested Bet: New Zealand head to head at $1.94
TOP BATSMAN
tim sefert & josh phillipe
Kane Williamson has notched up 978 runs at T20 level in New Zealand and leads the market to be top batsman for his country in this game.
Dashing opener Martin Guptill was in some doubt with a niggling hamstring injury coming into this game but has been passed fit. He has smashed 2621 runs in his T20 career and boasts an impeccable strike rate of 134.61.
The value from a New Zealand perspective lies with wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Seifert who was enormous with the bat in the T20 series against Pakistan in December last year.
Seifert averaged 56.67 in the series win over Pakistan and was also named player of the series after his monumental effort with the bat yielded 176 runs.
For Australia, Aaron Finch heads the odds at $3.4 but his form in the BBL was very hot and cold.
Josh Phillipe looks the way to go for Australia.
The young Sydney Sixers batsman deserves his spot in the squad after his BBL 10 series saw tally up 508 runs at an average of 31.75 and a strike rate of 149.41.
He managed to hit 14 sixes throughout the tournament while reaching a high score of 95 in the process.
Suggested Bets:
Top New Zealand Batsman: Tim Seifert at $6.5
Top Australian Batsman: Josh Phillipe at $3.85
TOP BOWLER
TIM SOUTHEE & JHYE RICHARDSON
With Jhye Richardson being recalled to the Australian T20 bowling attack, the market has not ignored him.
After a brilliant BBL 10 series saw him rank first for wickets taken with 29 at an average of 16.30 and an economy rate of 7.69. He was the best fast bowler in the tournament and is the reason he has come up at $3.8 second favourite here.
Adam Zampa is the $3.2 favourite and it is no wonder why after his BBL 10 series yielded 19 wickets at an average of 17.50 and only going at 7.35 runs per over.
His T20 international record is world class as well. The 28-year-old leg spinner has taken 39 wickets throughout his 36-match T20 international and done so with an economy rating of 6.61.
The Kiwis will be reliant on pace bowlers Trent Boult and Tim Southee in this one who come up the favourites to lead the Kiwi bowling.
Southee who was the pick of the two in the T20 series against Pakistan taking six wickets from his two games with his best being 4/21 off his four overs in game two while Boult really struggled to find his rhythm.
The left-arm opener took no wickets in either game he played and was belted for 33 runs in second T20 and 43 runs in the third T20.
Have to side with Southee to lead the Kiwi bowling given his T20 form reads much better than his compatriot.
Suggested Bets:
Top New Zealand bowler: Tim Southee at $3.40
Top Australian bowler: Jhye Richardson at $3.40
