New Zealand v England: Twenty20 betting preview, free tips & where to watch

Football tips, best bets and predictions for New Zealand v England in the fifth Twenty20 international in Auckland.

Where to watch

Live on Sky Sports Cricket & Main Event, 1am Saturday night

Best bet

Colin de Grandhomme top New Zealand runscorer
1pt 13-2 bet365

Back this tip with bet365

M Santner over 29.5 performance points
3pts 5-6 bet365

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Match preview

It may not quite rival July’s World Cup final at Lord’s but New Zealand and England are set for another exciting finale when their Twenty20 series is decided in Auckland.

Dawid Malan’s century and Eoin Morgan’s 91 powered England to their highest T20 total of 241-3 in Napier, levelling the series at 2-2.

A 3-2 England victory was advised at 3-1 at the start of the series and Morgan’s men should be encouraged by the Black Caps’ surprisingly poor recent record at Eden Park.

The hosts have lost six of their last seven Auckland 20-over games as Pakistan (twice), Australia (twice), South Africa and India have enjoyed successful visits in the last three years.

Their seven-wicket defeat to India in February would have been even more of a mismatch but for a 28-ball half-century from Colin de Grandhomme.

The powerful middle-order batsman came to the wicket with the Kiwis in trouble at 50-4, hitting four sixes as he and Ross Taylor hauled them to 158-8.

That innings earned De Grandhomme a promotion to number four and the 13-2 about him top-scoring in the decider looks tempting given scores of 30, 44, 59, nought, 19, 28, 55 and seven in his eight subsequent T20s.

Openers Martin Guptill and Colin Munro head the betting but De Grandhomme has outscored both of them in the first four games and he looks value to end this engrossing series on a high.

Spinner Mitchell Santner has been another consistent performer for the home side and his performance line of 29.5 looks too low.

He is a valuable all-round cricketer in the 20-over format. His performances in this series have made up at 61, 70, 35 and 50 and his highest career score with the bat – 37 off 28 balls against Pakistan – came at Eden Park in January 2018.

England’s top-runscorer market is hard to call given Malan’s golden run of form, Morgan and Jonny Bairstow’s white-ball class and the vast potential of Tom Banton.

The Somerset youngster has scored 18 off ten balls and 31 off 20 in his first two innings at international level and he is 4-1 to top-score for England and 12-1 to be man of the match.

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