Cricket / Jake Norton / 16 February 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

Summer showers could ruin the Twenty20 international between Australia and New Zealand just as it did the deciding ODI match, writes Nick Tedeschi

Brutal and long-lasting rain left the deciding game of the ODI series between Australia and New Zealand a limp and painful affair with Australia holding on to the Chappell-Hadlee trophy because the match was abandoned with New Zealand in touching distance of victory.

The rains could also play a big part in the Twenty20 match between the two nations, to be held in Sydney this Sunday night.

The forecast is for showers all weekend in Sydney, a forecast cricket lovers, Sydneyites and Cricket Australia bean-counters would no doubt be devastated to hear.

This does provide an opportunity for traders, however. Traders can bet the no option with some confidence in the Completed Match market. At this stage it looks a real flip of the coin if the match will even see out one innings, let alone two. 2.0 is currently available (for a small amount) that the match will not be completed. This is a fair wager if you are keen to bet the rains.

If the match does go ahead, the best bet is on the Brad Haddin led Australian team. Haddin will skipper a young and inexperienced team but one with some potential. Dave Warner may not have been able to cut it in the ODI's but the Twenty20 format is his natural home and he should be ready to shine in front of his home crowd. David Hussey and Callum Ferguson have both found form in the latter part of the fifty-over series. And Australia's pace attack of Bracken, Johnson, Hilfenhaus and Siddle seem well suited to the short game.

New Zealand will be well captained by Daniel Vettori, as always, but they seem to lack the punch to really do a lot of damage to Australia. Outside of Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor, New Zealand don't seem to have the hitting ability to match it with Australia's power line-up.

New Zealand have proven this in recent Twenty20 matches with the Black Caps winning only one of their last nine matches.

Australia, by contrast, have won four of their last five Twenty20 internationals and have not lost in six Twenty20 matches in Australia.

In the two contests between Australia and New Zealand, Australia won convincingly both times.

Traders can confidently bet Australia down to 1.42.