Cricket betting tips: T20 World Cup daily preview and best bets

Cricket tips: T20 World Cup daily bets

2pts Brad Evans top Zimbabwe bowler against Oman at 4/1 (General)

2pts Brian Bennett top Zimbabwe batsman against Oman at 29/10 (William Hill)

1pt United States of America to beat Pakistan at 13/2 (William Hill)

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Italy v Scotland

• Venue: Eden Gardens
• Start time: 05:30 (MON)
• TV: Sky Sports Cricket

Scotland will feel like they missed the boat somewhat when losing to the West Indies on this ground on Saturday.

They were unable to capitalise on a strong start with the ball, and later a promising rearguard with the bat, before eventually checking out and losing by 35 runs.

In theory, Scotland should find things easier against Italy on Monday, but there might not be a lot in it and I'm happy to sit this one out.

Derbyshire stalwart Wayne Madsen captains the Italians.

Zimbabwe v Oman

• Venue: Colombo
• Start time: 09:30 (MON)
• TV: Sky Sports Cricket

Zimbabwe ought to have too many guns for Oman in their World Cup opener.

All told, this is a pretty useful outfit which should be too hot for Oman, especially now the experienced Brendan Taylor is back in the fold.

However, BRIAN BENNETT is the main man nowadays, and looks a good bet to be TOP ZIMBABWE BATSMAN at 29/10 (William Hill).

Bennett just gets better and better, and averaged a very healthy 37.44 in 25 T20Is in 2025, proving easily the most consistent of the Zimbabwe batters.

With the ball, it's all about BRAD EVANS, and the general 4/1 about him in the top ZIMBABWE BOWLER MARKET looks fair.

In 17 T20I appearances last year, his strike-rate was an impressive 11.7 as he picked up 30 wickets.

Evans has been wonderfully consistent in this market for a while now, so looks worth sticking with.

Canada v South Africa

• Venue: Ahmedabad
• Start time: 13:30 (MON)
• TV: Sky Sports Cricket

2024 runners-up South Africa should be able to get their campaign off to the perfect start against Canada in Ahmedabad.

Over the last few years, this ground has been one of the better places to bat in the IPL, so a big score could be on the cards should the Proteas bat first.

Their batting line-up is headed by the in-form Quinton de Kock, before middle-order blaster Dewald Brevis takes over.

For the Canadians, Dilon Heyliger was their leading wicket-taker in 2024, so clearly warrants plenty of respect in the top bowler market again.

Namibia v Netherlands

• Venue: Delhi
• Start time: 05:30 (TUE)
• TV: Sky Sports Cricket

The Netherlands threw away a golden opportunity to pull off a major upset against Pakistan on Saturday having worked their way into a match-winning position.

Still, there were plenty of positives they can take from that match.

Batting first, the Netherlands raced out of the blocks and scored 50 runs in the powerplay, despite battling a slow surface in Colombo.

Delhi can be expected to serve up a much better pitch for batting, and I'll be looking to back overs on runs should the Netherlands bat first again.

There is plenty of power in this line-up from the likes of Michael Levitt, Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede and Scott Edwards.

New Zealand v United Arab Emirates

• Venue: Chennai
• Start time: 09:30 (TUE)
• TV: Sky Sports Cricket

New Zealand produced a typically professional display in their opening-match win over Afghanistan on Sunday.

Tim Seifert (65) and Glenn Phillips (42) shone in what was a terrific run chase of 183, and the Kiwis are unlikely to relent against United Arab Emirates.

The pitch in Chennai offers something of a conundrum for punters, given it's reputation for being spin-friendly but that it played well on Sunday.

I suspect conditions will be pretty decent for batting early in the tournament, before deteriorating further down the line.

That being said, there is a chance they will use the same deck as Sunday for this match.

UAE hitman Muhammed Waseem is usually the man to back in the top batsman market, but facing Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy up front is no easy task.

In fact, the New Zealand pace duo could be worth considering for Man of the Match honours.

Pakistan v United States Of America

• Venue: Colombo
• Start time: 13:30 (TUE)
• TV: Sky Sports Cricket

Tuesday's feature game from the T20 World Cup pits two sides whose opening matches were at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

Pakistan, best price 2/15 to win here, really should've lost to the Netherlands on this ground on Saturday, only crawling over the winning line thanks Faheem Ashraf's late show with the bat and some charitable Dutch fielding.

As for the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, they reduced champions India to 77-6 before making a hash of chasing down 162 at the Wankhede. This was a huge opportunity missed.

The USA need to bounce back quickly, but this is clearly a talented outfit who scored 200 twice in their warm-up fixtures against a strong India A and then New Zealand.

The middle order showed up well against India, too, and Andries Gous and Saiteja Mukkamalla are a pair of firecrackers at the top of the order who could hurt Pakistan if clicking into the gear.

Don't worry about the bowling. This is a well-drilled attack, as India found out to their cost.

I'm not especially down on Pakistan, a solid enough side who put Australia to the sword in home the series that preceded this World Cup.

But a World Cup hosted by India is a nightmare for Pakistan, even more so in the current political climate, and we've seen countless times in the last 12 months how politics has spilled onto the cricket field.

At the time of writing, Pakistan are expected to forfeit their group fixture against India, and none of this is helpful to the playing group.

And I think we saw that against the Dutch when Pakistan's batting barely functioned under pressure. Moreover, this USA side, for my money, will offer an even sterner test.

The middle order looks very flaky, and given the pitch in Colombo has been tough work so far, that could act as a further leveller in a contest that promises to be another nervy encounter.

All things considered, the USA have to be worth a swing at the prices, currently 13/2 in a place.

Posted at 19:35 GMT on 08/02/26

More Cricket content

• Richard Mann's T20 World Cup outright preview
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• Paul Krishnamurty's T20 World Cup best bets

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