Cricket betting tips T20 World Cup: England v South Africa preview and best bets

Cricket betting tips: T20 World Cup

2pts Adam Zampa top Australia bowler at 100/30 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)

2pts England to beat South Africa at 8/11 (General)

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ENGLAND have well and truly arrived at the T20 World Cup and if ever there was a case of a team firing warning shots to the rest of the competition, it was their eight-wicket drubbing of hosts and previously unbeaten West Indies on Thursday morning.

There is no venue change for England's next engagement, with Gros Islet in St Lucia again playing host, South Africa the next challenge for Jos Buttler’s side who are defending champions having won the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. The match is scheduled to begin at 3.30pm, UK time.

South Africa yet to find best form

South Africa are unbeaten in the tournament so far, but they have certainly ridden their luck at times and United States of America let slip chance of another huge upset when having the Proteas on the ropes with two overs of their match on Wednesday to go, only for Kagiso Rabada to have the final say with the ball.

It wasn’t plain sailing for South Africa when they struggled past Nepal, Bangladesh and Netherlands in the previous stage, either, and the batting has found things particularly tough going.

Quinton de Kock came good against USA but for all the promise of better pitches in the Caribbean should suit South Africa’s powerful batting line-up, I’m wary of just how inconsistent de Kock was at the recent IPL. Reeza Hendricks’ form would have to be a concern, too.

With the middle order featuring Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, I’m by no means writing off this batting unit, but I’m not as excited by it as I once was, and England looked better stocked in that department.

Salt leads England charge

While South Africa’s openers have struggled for form and runs, Phil Salt has an outstanding record in this part of world. He blasted 87 not out from only 47 against West Indies on Thursday, and has Jos Buttler as a pretty good sidekick.

Following a slow start, Jonny Bairstow has made scores of 31 and 48* in his last two outings to confirm he is working his way back to his best. Throw Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali into the mix and this is a very dangerous top six.

Both bowling attacks boast quality and variety. Perhaps Jofra Archer offers England that X-factor, but I’m not crabbing the Proteas in this area at all.

Ultimately, it’s with the bat that I believe England will win this match, and 8/11 looks decent value about a team with a proven formula for peaking at the business end of ICC events.

South Africa, as is well documented, still have that to prove, and I’m keen to take them on for now.

Rampant Australia hard to oppose

Earlier on Friday, Australia take on Bangladesh in North Sound, starting at 1.30am, UK time.

It’s hard to knock Australia's performances so far, and I thought they were particularly impressive when routing England in Bridgetown earlier in the tournament.

For my money, they have been the best team on show, something that can’t be said of Bangladesh who were given a real fright by Nepal and essentially qualified for the Super Eights by virtue of a two-wicket win over perennially disappointing Sri Lanka.

I think we will see evidence of a real class gulf here and while odds of 1/6 about Australia appear very short, it’s hard to grumble with them either.

There are Australian options aplenty in the Man of the Match market, but probably too many to narrow down to a couple, while openers David Warner and Travis Head are short enough in the top batsman market.

Stick with solid Zampa

I’ll give that a miss, with ADAM ZAMPA much more appealing for top Australia bowlers honours at 100/30.

Zampa probably still goes under the radar a little given the big names in this Australia attack, but he has developed into a world-class operator who finished as Australia’s leading wicket-taker at last year’s 50-over World Cup in India, and in the last two T20 World Cups.

With nine wickets and counting this time around, Zampa is on track to finish top of the pile for Australia once again, and he rates a bet here at the prices.

Posted at 1030 BST on 20/06/24

Related links

• Click here for Sky Bet's cricket odds
• Paul Krishnamurty's guide to the T20 World Cup grounds
• Paul Krishnamurty's T20 cricket betting masterclass
• Paul Krishnamurty's Test cricket betting masterclass
• Paul Krishnamurty's ODI cricket betting masterclass
• Latest Cricket Only Bettor IPL Podcast

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