England vs Pakistan 1st T20I Betting Tips 16/07/2021

13:37, 15 Jul 2021

Senior Author

13:37, 15 Jul 2021

Zohaib Ahmed is a sports journalist whose profession is to report and edit but whose passion is to predict and bet. He’s been in the industry for more than a decade and has worked/written for various bookmakers/tipsters. His expertise is in cricket, football, MMA, boxing and basketball.

The first T20I between England and Pakistan will be played on July 16 (Friday) at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. The match is scheduled to begin at 11pm IST.

Teams Status

Pakistan

The humiliation of being whitewashed by a second or third-string England side has been felt in every nook and cranny of Pakistan. The most popular demand of fans back home is to sack the coaching pairing of Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Younis. Some even want superstar batter Babar Azam relieved of his leadership duties.

In the midst of this comes another and better chance for Misbah and co to rebuild their reputation. A win over England in the T20I series will help their critics forget their forgettable performances in the 3-0 ODI mauling.

It remains to be seen what kind of line-up Pakistan names. PSL 2021 hero Sohaib Maqsood got his chances in the ODI series but failed. That said, his main forte is now in T20 cricket and if he is overlooked for the T20I series on the basis of his ODI failures, it would be a tad unfortunate for the hard-hitting batsman.

England

Since being embarrassed at home by New Zealand in the Test series last month, England have won seven straight despite missing a number of their regulars.

Their recent 3-0 win over Pakistan in ODIs was remarkable as it came after their camp was hit by coronavirus outbreak days before the start of the series. They dominated Pakistan with a series of newcomers, which should have propelled their confidence to the seventh sky.

Saqib Mahmood and Lewis Gregory have been the main beneficiaries as they have also been retained for the T20I series. More bad news for Pakistan is that England are getting back their star keeper Jos Buttler, who has managed to shake off the calf injury that kept him out of the Sri Lanka series.

What do the Sportsbook Say

Brand	England	Pakistan
	1.50	2.40
	1.52	2.512
	1.54	2.56

England are big favourites, thanks to their work done in the ODI series. 22Bet has England priced at 1.52 and Pakistan at 2.512. Dafabet has England priced at 1.54 and Pakistan at 2.56. Meanwhile, Betway has Pakistan available for 2.40 and England at 1.50.

Tipster’s Angle

Tip: Pakistan to win at 2.56

As bad as things look for Pakistan, they are worth a shot at these odds. Not only are they better suited to this format than 50 overs, they are one of those unpredictable teams that do far better when deemed as sizable underdogs. The play here is to back Pakistan for a win with Dabafet at odds of 2.56.

Tip: Mohammad Rizwan to score over 26.5 runs @ 1.87

Over the past year, Mohammad Rizwan has emerged as Pakistan’s second-most reliable batsman after Babar Azam. After rare back-to-back failures to start the ODI series, he finally delivered in the third ODI, only to see a pathetic performance from the team’s bowling unit undo his hard work. Rizwan, whose breakout tour was against England in England last year, knows the conditions well and must be determined enough to at least cover the spread of 26.5 runs. The play can be found on Dafabet.

Conclusion

England look the favourites but Pakistan are due a surprise result. Their batters have gotten used to English conditions as seen in the final ODI. If their bowlers click too, they can surprise their high-flying hosts.