Both Hong Kong and the Netherlands can no longer qualify for the ICC World Cup 2019 but that does not mean they have nothing to play for. Netherlands is guaranteed ODI status till 2022 because of winning the World Cricket League Championship. Hong Kong though needs to finish 7th in the standings to secure its ODI status. Scotland and UAE have ensured their ODI status by reaching the Super Six stage of the tournament.
Match Preview
Hong Kong
After beating Afghanistan and having the best possible opportunity to qualify for the Super Six stage, Hong Kong choked against Nepal. They lost a match they should have won on most days. The Hong Kong batsmen did not score enough runs and even though the bowlers tried to pull things back, Nepal was able to get over the line.
How will Hong Kong react to this gut-wrenching loss? It is not going to be easy but they must pull themselves up and try to make the best of the situation. Beating the Netherlands is not going to be easy. The senior batsmen from Hong Kong must take responsibility and score runs.
Nizakat Khan, Babar Hayat, and Anshuman Rath are the three batsmen we think are most likely to be able to put a strong fight for Hong Kong. The Hong Kong batsmen will be up against some decent fast bowlers that will try to exploit their weakness against the short ball.
We don’t think Hong Kong can outbat the Netherlands in this contest but they definitely need a decent enough score to back their bowlers.
Hong Kong was lucky that Ehsan Khan’s action was cleared by the ICC and he can bowl without any restrictions. He is their leading bowler and will be the one that is most likely to stop the Netherland batsmen from making merry.
Support from his compatriots Aizaz Khan, Nadeem Ahmed, and Ehsan Nawaz is essential to help Hong Kong put up a spirited fight. This team has shown that it can beat stronger oppositions like Afghanistan but does not have the consistency to pull off such performances repeatedly.
Netherlands
Winning the World Cricket League would have raised hoped in the Netherlands camp about their chances in this tournament. Unfortunately, the Netherlands performed much below expectation and only managed to beat PNG in their group matches.
Teams like UAE seemed to have raced far ahead of the Netherlands in this tournament.
Now, even though Netherlands does not have to worry about ODI status, it still has plenty of pride to play for. Beating Hong Kong should not be much of a problem for the Netherlands if they play to their potential.
They have batsmen that are much more experienced and bowlers that have played years of international cricket.
Tim van der Guten and Roelof van der Merwe will be the two players that standout in term of quality. Both of them have had a good tournament with both bat and ball, although batting is certainly an additional skill.
Snater, van Meekeren, and Peter Borren also bowled well in their last group match against the West Indies. If all of the bowlers stick to their plans then they should definitely have enough firepower to roll over the Hong Kong batsmen.
Among the batsmen, Barresi and ten Doeschate had a good last match, scoring over 60 runs each at an excellent strike rate. Those performances were not enough to help the Netherlands sneak into the Super Six stage but it should put them in a good frame of mind towards the end of the competition.
Cooper, Borren, and van der Merwe are all good players that can contribute with the bat for sure.
The real challenge for the Netherland batsmen will be in negotiating the spin of the Hong Kong bowlers.
Pitch and Conditions
A clear day has been forecast for Kwekwe for match day. The pitch is a bit of an unknown because this is the first macth will be played here. We expect a typical Zimbabwe surface with low bounce, a lack of pace, and not too much in it for any kind of bowler. The batsmen will also probably struggle to score runs fluently.
Our Prediction
The Netherlands is the overwhelming favourite in this contest and we have no problem in backing them. The only concern is the lack of motivation for Netherlands since they have the least on the line of all remaining teams.
Back the Netherlands to win.
The post Hong Kong vs Netherlands, Play Off ICC World Cup Qualifiers 2018 – Betting Tips appeared first on Cricket Betting.
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