Start time: 1030, 19/06/2019
Venue: Edgbaston
TV: Sky Sports
South Africa enjoyed a morale-boosting triumph over Afghanistan on Saturday and may now be value to beat New Zealand at odds against in Birmingham.
The Black Caps are unbeaten after four matches at the Cricket World Cup but did benefit from a kind fixture list before their clash with India was washed out.
This will now be their first action for 11 days and that also plays a part in the Proteas getting the nod at 11/10 for our opening New Zealand vs South Africa prediction.
Predictions for the Kiwis
New Zealand cruised to comfortable wins over Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, but they were pushed hard by Bangladesh and had to survive a few scary moments at The Oval.
The Kiwis will always give 100 per cent, but past history suggests a lack of strength in depth can catch them out against the bigger nations.
They lost 3-2 to South Africa on home turf in the last ODI series between these sides a couple of years ago, when Kagiso Rabada and Imran Tahir proved very hard to handle.
The latter is coming off a man-of-the-match display when taking 4-29 versus Afghanistan and appeals at 3/1 to be his side’s top bowler again from the New Zealand vs South Africa odds.
South Africa maintains hopes in semi-finals
After dismissing Afghanistan for 125, South Africa eased to victory by nine wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in Cardiff to maintain their hopes of making the semi-finals.
Skipper Faf Du Plessis said: “I’m very relieved and I feel a little bit lighter. I think our cricket was much better and much more competitive.
“We spoke a lot about energy in the field and stuff and you could really see a big difference on the team.
“This was an opportunity for us to put our peg in the ground, to make sure we put in a solid performance in all departments.
“And I thought we did that; bowling, fielding and also batting – very clinically chasing the small total down.
“We have big games coming up, but if we play like this, we will be a better team – hopefully this is a real confidence booster for everyone.”
Quinton De Kock did us a favour by top-scoring with 68 in Wales, so we’re sticking with the opener at 11/4 to be the Proteas’ best batsman again in our New Zealand vs South Africa betting tips.
