Dean Etheridge
England and New Zealand meet in the 1st T20 of the series at Chester-le-Street on Wednesday. This is the opening match of New Zealand’s white-ball tour of England, which is also a warm-up for the 2023 Cricket World Cup. Here we look ahead to the opening match and the series and tell you the best value bets to make in our cricket betting picks.
- What; 1st T20 International
- Who; England vs. New Zealand
- Where; Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street, Durham, England
- When; Wednesday, August, 30th 2023
Test cricket is over for the next few months, and the focus now is the upcoming Cricket World Cup. In the latest betting to win the World Cup, India are the favorites at +220.
The current holders of the World Cup, England, are second in the betting at +300, with Australia at +400 and New Zealand at +700. More odds for the World Cup are on our best cricket betting sites page.
England vs. New Zealand; Betting to win the 1st T20 and the Series
The 1st T20 is the opening match of New Zealand’s eight-match tour of England. The breakdown is four T20s and four ODIs.
And don’t be fooled into thinking that the T20 series has no bearing on the upcoming World Cup (which is a 50-over competition), because it does.
The majority of the players taking part in the T20 competition are in the provisional World Cup squads. And of those taking part in this series who aren’t scheduled to go to the World Cup, some are stand-by players looking to impress if a chance arises due to injury, etc.
In the opening match of the series, hosts England are -225 to win the fixture. New Zealand is +195. In the betting to win the series outright, England is -143, with New Zealand at +500. A tied series is +225.
The betting odds for both the 1st T20 and the series as a whole are heavily in England’s favor. Home advantage, and England being the current T20 World Cup holders, has a bearing on these odds.
More betting options are available on our odds table. You can also find out the current new and existing customer offers from these bookmakers on our best sportsbook sign-up bonuses page.
| England vs New Zealand 1st T20 Odds |  |  |  |
| England | -225 | -225 | -225 |
| New Zealand | +195 | +195 | +195 |
| Series Winner Odds | |||
| England | -143 | -143 | -143 |
| New Zealand | +500 | +500 | +500 |
| Tied Series | +225 | +225 | +225 |
Betting Pick to win the T20 series
We’re a bit torn on this, as we feel England will win the series, but New Zealand looks a good value bet at +500. The Kiwis are a talented side. But with the team not knowing whether Kane Williamson is going to be fit for the World Cup, they are in a bit of a mess.
New Zealand wants Williamson to be at the World Cup, and they have indicated that they will give him every chance of making the squad for India, even if he is not deemed fit enough to start the competition.
Kane Williamson may join the New Zealand squad for the 2023 World Cup. He will be fit soon. #Cricket #CricketTwitter #news #NewsUpdate #Sports #Cricketfans #NewZealand #WorldCup #WorldCup2023 pic.twitter.com/LU8zOIlFdD
— CricInformer (@CricInformer) June 26, 2023
But the Kiwis still have to make contingency plans in case Williamson doesn’t make it. And we feel these matches against England could be used to look at the potential options to take Williamson’s place.
Does this mean that England will face more dangerous players with a point to prove? It possibly does. But New Zealand is in a bit of a quandary, which makes them too risky to back – even at an appealing price like +500.
But England are too short to win the series at odds of -143. So instead, we’re looking at the props markets and backing England to win 3-1 at +190 and 4-0 at +300.
We’re also looking at the top series run scorer for England. Harry Brook has just been left out of England’s World Cup squad, and he will want to show England what they will be missing.
Harry Brook speaks on the disappointment of missing out from the squad for #CWC23 💬https://t.co/Q0i6GP0XIr
— ICC (@ICC) August 19, 2023
Brook is +500 to be the series top run scorer for England, and we think that makes him a good pick.
1st T20 Betting Picks
Of the two teams’ preparations, we’ve already established that we think that England look in the better place. And as England is our pick to win the series, we also have to pick them to win the opening match.
The odds of -225 might be a touch too short. So again, we’re looking towards the props markets for alternative picks. The top three run scorers in The Hundred competition are likely to be playing in this match. They are England’s Jos Buttler (391 runs), New Zealand’s Finn Allen (240), and England’s Harry Brook (238).
Jos Buttler is a class act, and when he clicks, he is one of the top whiteball batters in the world. As a result, he is always short in this market. In the opening match, he is +300.
So we are giving Buttler a miss, and again for England, going with Harry Brook, who is again +500.
We are also picking Finn Allen to top score for New Zealand in the 1st T20 at odds of +400. He is in good form and will be used to playing on English pitches after completing his spell in The Hundred for the Southern Brave.
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