And then there were two.
New Zealand and Australia will dispute the 2021 T20 World Cup final, just the second time Australia have ever made a final in this competition; they lost the other one in 2010 to England.
For New Zealand it’s their very first final in this event and they’ll be looking to make the most of their opportunity.
Over the years they’ve become everyone’s ‘second favourite’ side due to their brand of cricket but above all, the spirit with which they play the game.
No one is a better ambassador for fair play and respect to others than skipper Kane Williamson himself. The neutral will surely be cheering on the Kiwis.
But this final isn’t about being the nice guy and there’s a big trophy up for grabs between these two rivals. Let’s look at the latest Cricket World Cup odds, team news, pitch report and everything else you need to know ahead of the big day. Most important of all, there are also some World Cup betting tips coming up next.
New Zealand
The Black Caps got some revenge of sorts for that 2019 ODI World Cup final loss. They knocked out favourites England in the semi, although of course the job is only half-done, and another runner-up spot will surely be as bitter a pill to swallow as that 2019 loss.
A great result for them and a good result for us; last week at Cricket World Cup odds of 2.45, we tipped them to get the better of England.
On Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, they chased England’s 166 with an over to spare. With the ball, Tim Southee was the pick of the bowlers, taking 1-24 off four overs, while Adam Milne was also impressive with 1-31.
They used seven different bowlers, proof that Williamson has good resources at his disposal and that if someone has an off day, he has other players to call on to make up the overs.
In reply, they were a bit slow off the mark but that’s normal. They lost their two big name batsmen in Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson cheaply and had a rebuilding exercise on their hands.
But as wickets fell around him, Daryl Mitchell was still there. And he showed the value of playing yourself in by accelerating when needed and the four sixes off his bat went a long way to them getting over the line. But he probably wouldn’t have managed it had it not been for the intervention of Jimmy Neesham.
The all-rounder had already claimed the wicket of dangerman Liam Livingstone and his quickfire 27 off 11 was just what New Zealand needed at a time when they were getting well below the run rate. Mitchell walked away with the man-of-the-match award, but it could easily have been Neesham.
Australia
They looked dead and buried with three or four overs to spare before Mathew Wade’s three sixes put an end to the game and like New Zealand, they won with an over to spare.
But then again, they’ve been written off all tournament. They came into in poor form, they had a mediocre record in the UAE and plenty of players were out of form, including David Warner. He’d had an awful time of it in the IPL before the World Cup started.
But Warner has a habit of proving people wrong and even though he’s not quite up there with the top runscorers for the tournament, he’s had a great time of it over the past month. Wade was man-of-the-match for his late hitting when they looked gone, but it was Warner’s 49 that set the tone and kept them up with the required run rate.
But there will be some concern over the form of Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell. They got out for 5 and 7 respectively and neither of them has looked in good nick so far. Aaron Finch was out for a golden duck but to be fair, it was a brilliant delivery from Shaheen Shah Afridi that got him. They’ll need a better start from him this time.
Cricket World Cup Odds: Match Sportsbook
Both teams went int their respective semis as outsiders and won. But what else did they have in common? We’ll tell you. They both won the toss and got to bat second. It was no coincidence that gave them a huge advantage because batting second has been a huge advantage all tournament. There are two main reasons for that.
The first is that almost every team these days prefers to have a target in sight and know what they have to do.
The second is dew. As the game progresses, dew sets in and makes the ball harder to grip. We saw that in both semi-final games; bowlers losing control of the ball because it was damp and it costing them runs.
So, what’s the lesson to be learned? It’s that winning the toss brings a huge advantage with it. It’s not quite ‘win the toss, win the match’ but it may not be far off.
So, with that in mind, New Zealand are the bet at Cricket World Cup odds of 2.37. A coin toss by definition is a 50/50 chance, and it makes sense to go with the team at the biggest odds when it makes such a difference. It’s debatable whether there should be such a difference in the odds anyway because they’re very evenly matched sides in terms of players. So, it’s not a hard decision to make.
Cricket World Cup Odds: Australian Top Bowler
In both semi-finals, it was notable how it was the spinners who had the most control and took more wickets, while the fast bowlers were the ones struggling and being hit around the park.
Chris Jordan of England and Shahen Shah Afridi of Pakistan are two of the world’s best T20 bowlers, but both were smashed around in the death overs.
Contrast that with the spinners. In Dubai, venue of the second semi and also the venue for Sunday’s final.
Adam Zampa only claimed one wicket but just conceded 22 runs off his four overs. Pakistan’s Shadab Khan, also a leg-spinner, was outstanding with 4-26; he certainly didn’t deserve to be on the losing side.
So, it makes sense to go with that man Zampa to be their top bowler on the day. The fact that he’s their top bowler with 12 wickets for the tournament shows he’s been good all the way through. It wasn’t just the last match.
His economy rate of 5.69 also suggests that batsmen have struggled against him for the whole of the World Cup: Cricket World Cup odds of 4.0 on Zampa are just too good to turn down.
Recommended Cricket World Cup Bets
Back New Zealand to win @ 2.37 with Sportsbook
Back Adam Zampa to be Australian Top Bowler @ 4.0 with Sportsbook