Twenty20 / Andy Morris / 05 February 2010 / Leave a comment Bet Now View Market

It could be time to cash in on Australia as they bid to send Pakistan on their way in the lowest of spirits after the final clash of the tour, suggests Andy Morris.

...for those of us who like to find a bit of value in their bets, this Twenty20 contest looks the most evenly matched so far.

Having won reasonably well in New Zealand, Pakistan arrived in Australia hoping to build on that success.

However, as they proved the old adage that catches win matches - or in their case, dropped catches lose them - the series slipped away from the visitors.

A clean sweep in the tests was followed by a 5-0 defeat in the ODIs, and now Pakistan has one final chance to gain some consolation from their tour.

Fortunately, for those of us who like to find a bit of value in their bets, this Twenty20 contest looks the most evenly matched so far.

Pakistan heading for ninth loss in a row

If Pakistan can put their run of eight consecutive defeats on tour to one side and return to something like the form they showed in winning the ICC World Twenty20 in England last year, they have a decent chance.

Certainly the fact that Pakistan has beaten Australia in both their match-ups in the shortest form of the game should give traders even more value should they choose to back the home side.

As those of us who sided with Ricky Ponting's men over the summer have found winning is nice, but the odds have tended to be short. At this stage, Australia is available at around 1.42 and it's tempting to splash the cash.

Besides having shown that they are all-round a better team than the tourists, Australia have a couple of factors in their favour going into this one.

Afridi a blow for Pakistan

Firstly, Pakistan are missing captain Shahid Afridi, who sits out a two-match ban after admitting to ball-tampering in the final ODI in Perth.

Secondly, Australia have recognised that a return of 11 wins from 24 Twenty20s so far is not good enough, and have opted to go with players who have form in the 20-over game.

Hence, Tasmanian batsman Travis Birt and NSW all-rounder Steve Smith come into the squad, along with Blues opener David Warner and Victoria middle order batsman David Hussey.

Smith and Birt in particular played well in the recent KFC Twenty20 Big Bash and, although Smith can be a big hitter, the 20-year-old showed in that competition he can also be a threat with the ball, taking seven wickets at 10.28 in five games.

This MCG clash should mean that the series ends with a bang, rather than a whimper, and make compulsive viewing, but traders can be reasonably confident that Australia will come out on top.