The 2016 World Twenty20 may be over for Australia following their loss to India on Monday morning, but the tournament continues this week with a pair of what should be a pair of exciting semi-finals.
New Zealand have been the form team of the World Twenty20 to date and they may never receive a better chance to record a maiden World Cup victory, but they will face a stiff challenge against an explosive England, while West Indies will look to bounce back from their shock loss to Afghanistan when they take on the host nation India.
I have closely analysed both semi-finals and come up with a couple of betting plays for both matches.
New Zealand started their 2016 World Twenty20 campaign with a win over India and they have gone from strength to strength after also beating Australia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
All-rounder Mitchell Santner has been the star for New Zealand and has bowled extremely well, but the Black Caps have struggled with the bat and only scored over 150 runs on one occasion.
England were beaten by West Indies in their opener, but they scored an incredible victory over South Africa in their second match with a record-breaking score of 230 runs.
They survived a scare against Afghanistan before they produced a solid all-round performance against Sri Lanka to secure their place in the semi-finals.
It is clear that England have the stronger batting side ahead of their clash, but New Zealand have bowled extremely well during the tournament to date and they require a similar performance if they are going to continue their unbeaten run at the tournament.
England historically have an edge over New Zealand and have won eight of the 13 meetings between the two sides in Twenty20 Cricket, while New Zealand have never made it this far in a World Twenty20 event.
New Zealand have been in outstanding form this tournament and they are deserving of their status as favourites, but if England performs at their best their batting will prove too strong for their rivals and $2 currently on offer is a good bet.
Recommended Bet: England To Win @ $2.00 and England To Hit Most Sixes @ $1.83
The West Indies started their tournament with an impressive victory over England and they went on to beat Sri Lanka and South Africa before they were beaten by Afghanistan in their final pool game.
They were obviously very poor against Afghanistan, but you can probably put a line through that performance as they knew they had already qualified for the next stage of the tournament and there was still plenty of merit in their bowling performance.
India were under pressure from the get go when they lost to New Zealand in the opening game of the tournament, but they were able to bounce back and record nervous wins over Pakistan, Bangladesh and Australia to keep alive their hopes of becoming the first nation to win the World Twenty20 twice.
Bowling has been the strength for both teams during the tournament to date, but they also have explosive batting line-ups and the likes of Virat Kohli or Chris Gayle could swing this game single-handily.
The two teams have met on four occasions and both come away with two wins apiece, so there really is not a great deal between these two teams and their is no way their should be as great a gap in the current prices on offer.
The West Indies are a great bet to record an upset win at their current price of $2.88 and I expect some Chris Gayle fireworks.
Recommended Bet: Back West Indies To Win @ $2.88 and Chris Gayle To Be Named Man Of The Match @ $9.