Twenty20 World Cup / Jaymes Monte / 05 June 2009 /

If you're looking for an upset in this World Cup, don't expect Scotland to provide it, says Jaymes Monte.

Team News

New Zealand have to decide whether to stick with the dreadfully out of form Jesse Ryder at the top of the order, or try something new. Ryder had a pitiful IPL and has continued that form in the World Cup warm-up matches. I'd suggest that they may stick with him for a game against a poor Scotland side, giving him an ideal opportunity to get some runs on the board and some much needed confidence.

A double wicket maiden from James Franklin against Australia should be enough to see him given a starting birth. And Peter McGlashan's 49 from 35 balls puts him firmly in the picture for New Zealand's vacant number seven position.

Captain Gavin Hamilton will open the batting for Scotland, still looking to avenge his only ever test match appearance for England when he bagged a pair. Durham's Kyle Coetzer is the danger man and he will come in at number three.

Conditions

Light rain is forecast in the capital throughout Saturday, meaning it could become a bit of a stop-start match.

Match Odds

New Zealand are priced up at [1.08] with Scotland available at around [12.0] and sadly that is a good reflection of Scotland's chances. If you're looking for an upset in this World Cup I wouldn't be looking to the Scots at any stage, the current predicament that Scottish cricket finds itself in was highlighted by their recent defeat to Afghanistan in a one day World Cup qualifier.

Top Batsman

The nature of this match up means we shouldn't look much further than the opening three to four batsmen for the Black Caps. Brendon McCullum finished the IPL in sparkling form and despite a duck against Australia has maintained that form in the other warm-up matches; he is almost guaranteed to open and is a good value bet at [4.0] here.

Durham's Kyle Coetzer is arguably Scotland's only danger man, he's available to back here at [6.0]

Featured Market

Betting on most of the peripheral markets will be highly dependent on which side is batting first, and you should take that into consideration before placing a bet. There's a strong temptation to back over 1.5 run-outs at around [2.2] although I feel we may be entirely reliant on the Scotland teams running between the wickets to bring this one home. I'd expect them to be eager to nick as many extra runs as possible if, as expected, the boundaries don't flow.

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