New Zealand v India 1st T20 free tips, odds update, predictions

Welcome to our NZ v India betting preview for the first Twenty20 International , at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday, January 24.

The New Zealand-India series comprises five T20s, three ODIs and two Tests in what should be a great pointer to the chances of both teams in the T20 World Cup in Australia later this year.

India are hot favourites with bookmakers for this opening clash and that seems fair enough given their impressive form in their 2-1 win in a ODI series against Australia which concluded on Sunday. They will be without star opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan, who suffered a shoulder injury, with wicketkeeper batsman Sanju Samson his replacement in the T20 side. KL Rahul is likely to open the innings alongside Rohit Sharma.

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New Zealand, meanwhile, have been ravaged by injury from their record 3-0 Test series loss in Australia and could not consider front-line pacemen Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry, as well as all-rounder Jimmy Neesham.

The Blacks Caps also must regroup from their thrashings in Australia, but they project as far tougher opponents in the shorter forms of the game. They have called up veteran pace bowler Hamish Bennett, 32, for this T20 International debut.

Read on for our New Zealand v India tips and odds update for the opening T20 International in Auckland, where the second match of the series will also be played on Sunday.

New Zealand-India series schedule

T20 Internationals
Friday, January 24: 1st T20I, Eden Park, Auckland, 8pm (all local times)Sunday, January 26: 2nd T20I, Eden Park, Auckland, 8pm
Wednesday, January 29: 3rd T20I, Seddon Park, Hamilton, 8pm
Friday, January 31: 4th T20I, Westpac Stadium, Wellington, 8pm
Sunday, February 2: 5th T20I, Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, 8pm

One-day Internationals

Wednesday, February 5: 1st ODI, Seddon Park, Hamilton, 3pm
Saturday, February 8: 2nd ODI, Eden Park, Auckland, 3pm
Tuesday, February 11: 3rd ODI, Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui,

Practice match

Friday, February 14-Sunday, February 16: 3-day practice match, Seddon Park, Hamilton, 11am

Test matches

Friday, February 21-Tuesday, February 25: 1st Test, Basin Reserve, Wellington, 11.30am
Saturday, February 29-Wednesday, March 4: 2nd Test, Hagley Oval, Christchurch, 11.30am

Squads for NZ-India T20 Internationals

India
Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma (vice-captain), Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur.

New Zealand
Kane Williamson (captain), Hamish Bennett, Tom Bruce (games 4-5), Colin de Grandhomme (games 1-3), Martin Guptill, Scott Kuggeleijn, Daryl Mitchell, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.

NZ v India 1st T20 odds

Head to head odds: New Zealand $2.46, India $1.52

Top batsman New Zealand odds:
$3.75 Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson
$4 Colin Munro
$6 Tim Seifert, Ross Taylor, Tom Bruce
$7 Colin de Grandhomme

Top batsman India odds:
$3.50 Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli
$4 KL Rahul
$5.20 Sanju Samson
$6.50 Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey
$7 Rishabh Pant

Top bowler NZ odds:
$3.50 Tim Southee
$4 Ish Sodhi
$4.50 Mitchell Santner
$5 Scott Kuggeleijn, Blair Tickner
$6 Hamish Bennett, Colin de Grandhomme
$6.50 Daryl Mitchell

Top bowler India odds:
$3.50 Jasprit Bumrah
$4 Kuldeep Yadav
$4.50 Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami
$5 Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini
$5.50 Washington Sundar
$7 Shivam Dube

NZ v Ind 1st T20 betting tips

Here are the WGL’s free tips for the NZ-India T20 opener. We attempt to cover most international cricket fixtures with extensive predictions articles.

New Zealand to win at $2.46

While the Black Caps seem in disarray after a disappointing tour of Australia, they are far better suited back to the shortest form of the game and in these matches it takes only one batsman to get hot and they are right in with a chance, even against arguably the best team in world cricket. Shop around for the best odds.

Mohammed Shami top Indian wicket-taker at $4.50

The WGL team has had plenty of success backing Shami on of late. He was in slashing form against Australia in the recent one-day series and even when he was being hit around a bit he always seems to come up with wickets. One of our favourite players in world cricket.

Colin de Grandhomme man of the match

At the time of writing there was no market out, but check one of our best international betting sites closer to match time. De Grandhomme has done well with bat and ball at this ground, and it would be no surprise to see him take a couple of important wickets and smack a quick-fire 40 in an NZ win.

New Zealand v India predictions – 1st T20, January 24, 2020

We are betting on the Kiwis catching this India team a little cold, given it is the first match of the tour and they will have to adjust to the NZ conditions. Sure, being on the road is not the problem it used to be for India, but we rate this match far closer to an even money bet than most of the sportsbooks do. Good punting.

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