The two best One-Day International teams in the world will step onto the field to compete this Friday morning in Mumbai, India. Hot off the back of a tight four match Test series, India and Australia dive straight into a three match ODI series. Both teams are unbeaten in their previous five matches and sit at No. 1 and No. 2 in the ICC rankings. Australia was also the last team to defeat India in a bilateral series on their home soil.
And yet, this is a strange old series. All eyes were on the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, and now they seem to have switched to the IPL 2023, which kicks off in a little over two weeks. However, this series is not to be underestimated and still presents some excellent betting opportunities.
We break down the best India vs. Australia odds for the first ODI from William Hill and preview this series in general ahead of the first match.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 16th, 8:30 P.M. (GMT)
Big picture, India is the favourite here. They very rarely lose series in India—the last time it happened was against Australia in 2016. By and large across the Test series, India dominated and there’s no reason to believe they won’t continue that trend in white ball cricket. The India vs. Australia first ODI odds from William Hill reflect this with the home side up by 1.61 to 2.30 in the betting.
It’s been a minute since either side were active in white ball cricket. Australia’s last series was immediately after the 2022 T20 World Cup where they swept England 3-0. For India, they hosted New Zealand in January and also came away 3-0 victors.
We say this series will be 2-1 with Australia having the firepower in their batting line up to win at least one match. If there was to be a match they win, there’s every chance it will be the first one with India a little off-guard at the moment courtesy of IPL preparations. Backing Australia at 2.30 is not the worst idea.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: March 16th, 8:30 P.M. (GMT)
However, an even better bet is to wager on India vs. Australia proposition bets instead. Looking at the odds for Australia’s best batsmen, the return on Travis Head is a lucrative 5.00. Since Aaron Finch retired and Travis Head has been handed the role of opening for Australia in ODIs, the batsman has notched up scores of 69, 19 and 152. He’s also been one of the nation’s stand out Test match batter in recent months with a knack for scoring freely while others struggle on tricky pitches.
Backing Head to score big in the first ODI, and potentially even lead his side to victory, is an excellent bet to place on the India vs. Australia first ODI.
