The last three weeks have seen Pakistan and New Zealand play out two enthralling Test matches on Pakistani soil. Regardless of how entertaining these matches were, both wound up ending in draws, meaning neither side has gained the upper hand yet in New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan.
With the Tests wrapped up now, attention turns towards a three-match One Day International series. As the No. 1 ODI side in the world currently, and arguably the better side of the two Test matches, New Zealand will fancy their chances of getting a series win here. Pakistan, on the other hand, will be desperate to salvage some pride from this tour having taken a beating in front of home crowds over the past two months.
We break down all of the best bets to make on the first ODI between Pakistan and New Zealand with odds from bookmaker William Hill.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: January 9th, 12:00 A.M. (GMT)
Looking at the outright odds to win this match, Pakistan surprisingly hold an edge at bookmaker William Hill. The home side is at 1.67 to win the first ODI, while New Zealand sits just behind at 2.20.
Given that New Zealand is ranked No. 1 by the ICC in ODIs and Pakistan is No. 5, these odds can only be explained by recent form. Pakistan is unbeaten across their past eight ODIs,winning series against the Netherlands, West Indies and Australia in 2022. New Zealand, on the other hand, won their last ODI against India but lost three in a row prior to that against Australia. The reality is neither side has played a lot of this format recently with much of last year spent focusing on the T20 World Cup 2022 as well as the World Test Championship.
While ODI hasn’t been at the fore of international cricket the past six months, expect that to change. The ODI World Cup 2023 is fast approaching in October and though both Pakistan and New Zealand have already qualified for the tournament, they will want to begin preparing the best XI in advance. We can see this already in this series with New Zealand calling in new fast bowler Henry Shipley to debut, while Pakistan have recalled Haris Sohail to their side.
We say that the best bet is against the bookies odds here, and New Zealand should claim this one. They have good momentum coming out of the Test series and will feel hard done by that it wasn’t notched up as an away Test series win. As a result, there’s little chance they’ll take the ODI series lightly and will be eager to get a victory. Back them at 2.20 in the first ODI and maybe even put a wager on them to win the whole series 2-1 at 3.00 while you’re at it.
