Champions Trophy Betting – Pakistan face unknown quantity on Kiwis

Odds:
New Zealand vs Pakistan
September 3, 8am
New Zealand +125
Pakistan –165

Pakistan’s meteoric cricketing revival has continued at this year’s Champions Trophy with the sub-continent powerhouse just two wins away from winning their second major title in a year.

With the Twenty20 World Cup placed on their mantelpiece collecting dust, the Champions Trophy is within grasp but first they have to overcome New Zealand.

No, it isn’t a mistake, your eyes are not deceiving you – yes I said New Zealand.

The Kiwis were the weakest link in their pool and some could argue that they were simply tourists passing through the tournament. The smart money would have been on world number ones South Africa topping the pool and the second spot being taken by Sri Lanka then maybe, that’s a big maybe too, England with New Zealand dead last.

But the Lankans helped out by beating South Africa in the first match and they in turn fell victim to a cocky England. The Kiwis true to form lost to the Proteas but then sprung into action beating Sri Lanka and England in their last two pool matches to snare second spot.

It can all be put down to their batsmen finally coming to the party. The Kiwis major problem over the past 12 months and maybe more has been their inconsistent batting, the likes of Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder routinely failing leaving all the work to the middle order who in turn relied heavily on Ross Taylor.

In their match against Sri Lanka, the Black Caps proved they can score 300-plus and in doing so scared a few of the other teams in the competition.

Pakistan on the other hand, well despite their world ranking of four, they had all the hard work to do. Grouped alongside India and Australia, there was a real possibility that they would miss the semis but a win over India secured them a spot and they will now take the chance with both hands.

Look for big innings from Younis Khan, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik and Misbah-ul-Haq while their bowling will hamper the Kiwis progress any further this match.

If the Kiwis want a shot at the final, Shane Bond and Kyle Mills must decimate the top order of Pakistan while captain Daniel Vettori mops up the middle order.