Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh 1st T20I Betting Tips 23/07/2021

22:20, 21 Jul 2021

Senior Author

22:20, 21 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 1st T20I between Zimbabwe and Bangladesh will be played on July 23 (Friday) at the Harare Sports Club. The match is scheduled to begin at 4pm IST.

Teams Status

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe did better in the ODI series as it progressed but still managed to get whitewashed 3-0. In the T20Is, an underdog such as them has, in theory, a better chance of springing an upset, which is what they will be hoping for.

Another positive for the Africans is that they have four T20I victories against Bangladesh – the most they have against any major side. That could be one way of looking at the equation. Another could be that they also have nine defeats against the Tigers, which gives them an abysmal 30.76%-win ratio.

Two of those four victors came in 2016 when Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh and after losing the first two matches, evened up the series by winning the other two. That was more than five years ago though. In the half a decade since, Zimbabwe’s stock has fallen and Bangladesh’s risen even more.

Bangladesh

Results wise, Bangladesh have been flawless so far on this tour, winning the only-Test by a big margin and then clean sweeping the ODIs.

The format is shorter now, which as explained above, opens the door for upsets, especially as Bangladesh will be without their star opener Tamim Iqbal, who has been ruled out of action for the next two months.

The team management has not named a direct replacement for the stylish leftie but has kept Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Mithun and Mosaddek Hossan — all part of the ODI setup — to stay with the team in Harare as potential replacements.

What do the Sportsbook Say

Brand	Zimbabwe	Bangladesh
	3.75	1.22
	4.50	1.20
	4.50	1.205

Bangladesh are the favourites in this fixture. Bet365 has India priced at 1.20 and Zimbabwe at 4.50. MelBet has Bangladesh available for 1.205 and Zimbabwe for 4.50. Meanwhile, Betway has Zimbabwe priced at 3.75 and Bangladesh at 1.22.

Tipster’s Angle

Tip: Top batsman for Bangladesh – Shakib Al Hasan

Even when Tamim was available, some would argue that Shakib is the best batter on Bangladesh’s roster. With Tamim gone, the biggest responsibility for runs will fall on Shakib’s broad shoulders. The play here is to back him to be Bangladesh’s top scorer in the opening T20I at odds of 4.0. The play can be found on Bet365.

Tip: Most match sixes – Bangladesh at 1.61

Compare the two sides and you will find more power hitters in the Bangladesh side than in Zimbabwe. This is also one of the few batting-related bets where the parity in odds is not that massive. Thus, we think there is value in backing Bangladesh batters to hit more sixes in the match. The play can be found on Bet365.

Conclusion

Bangladesh’s T20I unit is slightly weakened than their ODI bunch, which opens up the opportunity for an upset but we think it is too soon in the series to happen. If all goes according to plan, Bangladesh should be 1-0 up when the match ends.