England v New Zealand ODI predictions and cricket betting tips

Where to watch England v New Zealand

Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 12.30pm Friday

Best bets

Jonny Bairstow to be player of the match
1pt 8-1 Betfair, Paddy Power

Tom Latham to score over 23.5 runs
3pts 5-6 BoyleSports

England v New Zealand predictions

England start their 50-over World Cup title defence against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on October 5 so there should be no lack of intensity when the four-match ODI series between the teams begins in Cardiff.

Their last meeting was the unforgettable 2019 World Cup final in which England pipped the Black Caps on the boundary count-back rule after a tied Super Over at Lord's.

England's victorious captain Eoin Morgan has retired while Kane Williamson, his opposite number four years ago, is recovering from a serious knee injury but is expected to feature at next month's tournament in India.

Nine members of England's 2019 squad have made the provisional 15-man World Cup group including Ben Stokes, who has come out of ODI retirement.

While Stokes and Brendon McCullum's dynamic England Test team have dominated the headlines, white-ball captain Jos Buttler and coach Matthew Mott have had a quiet build-up to their World Cup title defence.

England won the T20 World Cup in Australia last November, with Stokes again starring in the final, but they have lost nine of their last 14 completed ODIs against India, South Africa, Australia and Bangladesh.

Punters should not read too much into the form of those bilateral series – England's ODI series in Australia last year started, bizarrely, just four days after the T20 World Cup final – but Buttler's men may need time to click back into 50-over mode.

New Zealand claimed a 2-2 draw in the T20 series thanks to handsome wins in the third and fourth games and they welcome back ace fast bowler Trent Boult for the ODIs.

England batsman Harry Brook, omitted from the provisional World Cup squad, could feature in this series, increasing the pressure on Dawid Malan, Jason Roy and Liam Livingstone to deliver with the bat.

Barring injury, Jonny Bairstow is a guaranteed starter at the World Cup and he played a couple of devastating knocks in the T20 series, slamming 86 not out at Old Trafford and 73 off 41 balls, with six sixes, at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.

The opener played three games in Cardiff for Welsh Fire in The Hundred and is worth a bet to be named player of the match, as he was on his ODI debut at the venue against India in 2011.

New Zealand skipper and Test opener Tom Latham is flourishing in a middle-order role for the ODI side and he can exceed a modest runs line. 

Latham's last 50-over innings of 2022 was an unbeaten 145 against India in Auckland and he made 20, 98, 45, 60 and 59 in May's 4-1 series defeat in Pakistan.

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