India vs New Zealand Prediction: Back Singh to the tune of 7/2

We now three games into this five game series and we already know that the home side will emerge victorious, as they've won the first three encounters. Jamie Pacheco previews the 4nd T20I from Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, January 28, start time 13:30.  

Jamie thinks death-over specialist Arshdeep Singh can come good at 7/2 in the possible absence of Jasprit Bumrah and has a 14/1 short in the top NZ bat market... 

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*You can check out the Cricket Odds from all of our Cricket Betting markets over on betfred.com

Match Preview:

First up, apologies there was no preview ahead of the 3rd T20I, which India won comfortably yet again.  Good luck stopping this lot in their own backyard when the WC starts next month. They're 7/5 to win it, and if you're going to go with the tournament favourites, now is the time to do so because I can't see them getting any shorter. 

As if their rivals didn't have enough to worry about, now Jasprit Bumrah is back in form, too. He took 3-17 to pick up the man-of-the-match award with Abishek Sharma (68) and Sky Yadav (57) finishing the job off with the bat. 

Sanu Samson is struggling through, and he's either fighting for his place if he does get another chance, or may be dropped for this one.  

Bumrah is expected to be rested.    

New Zealand  

NZ were good with the bat in game two (India chased their big score anyway) but other than that they've been pretty disappointing in these first three games, which is most unlike them.  

Sure, India in India in T20Is is as tough as it gets, but not doing the basics right, like poor lengths with the ball and plenty of dropped catches is inexcusable.  

Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman were the best of a bad bunch with the bat, and every single player went at 14 or more an over with the ball; I'm not sure I'd ever seen that in a T20I before.  

One of Kyle Jamieson or Matt Henry may be rested as they manage the workloads of their key fast bowlers.  

Pitch and conditions 

Four matches have been played here at Visakhapatnam since it hosted its first T20I here back in 2016.  

It's played four, won three, as far as India are concerned, their one loss being in 2019 in a low-scorer on a tough wicket, Australia getting home with the last ball of the match, chasing just 126.  

First innings scores have been all over the place at this ground in those four games, including India chasing over 200 against the Aussies in 2023, so it's hard to know what to expect.   

Match Winner odds. 

India are 1/4 for this one, NZ are 11/4. In other words, the Kiwis' price is getting bigger and bigger by the game.  

If the wicket on the day is a tricky one, that might be NZ's best chance of winning a game this Series. But we can't be sure about the track, so we won't take the gamble. Besides, India seem to find a way to win matches from any position in any conditions in this format, so that's another reason to give the tempting-looking price a swerve.  

*For all the latest and live India vs New Zealand 4th T20I Odds then head over to betfred.com 

India Top Bowler  

Maybe the Betfred odds-compilers weren't paying attention when, during the 2nd T20I on Friday, the commentators suggested Bumrah would play the third and fifth matches but not the fourth. Now, we don't know this with 100% certainty, but again, we could probably have guessed that was going to be the case anyway, as they continue to use their star man with the ball sparingly.  

The relevance of that is that the market favourite (13/5) is making other Indian players' prices inflated.  

Especially Arshdeep Singh, at 7/2. He had a bad day at the office on Sunday with 0/53 but had reminded us what he was all about just over a week ago when he took 3/63 in the final ODI on a belter of a pitch.  

111 wickets in 74 T20Is at a strike rate of 13.8 are elite numbers. We know, of course, that Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy have excellent figures in this format themselves, but I reckon one of them will miss out anyway; the fact Singh will bowl at the death could be the difference. The fact that he's a bigger price than either of them is obviously a consideration, too.   

NZ Top Batsman  

Skip Mitch Santner could always bat a bit, but he's taken his contributions with the willow to new levels in white-ball cricket over the past couple of years. Just ask England, after he scored a load of priceless runs on that pre-Ashes tour.  

He's scored 20 not out, 47 not out, and 27 so far this Series, that 47 being enough to win the betting heat at a double-figures price.  

Look, we obviously don't expect him to top score (the 14/1 is a clue to that) but there's no doubt it's too big a price, that he's in form and that at batting at seven he'll at least almost certainly get a go. So we'll go with him for a very small interest.  

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