Cricket ranks highly amongst the most popular sports in New Zealand, and is considered to be the national summer sport of the country. New Zealand is one of the 10 countries which compete in Test Match Cricket and the sport is very popular amongst Kiwi punters. As cricket is such a complex game with many variables, there are a wide range of bets that can be placed on a given match, and many online bookmakers offer a wide range of cricket bets.
With such a wide variety of bets available, the choices may become overwhelming for punters, so we have put together a guide to the most popular wagers on offer with most online sportsbooks.
Basic Cricket Bets
Match betting is the most well-known form of cricket betting, and is also the simplest. In order for a punter to be successful with a match bet, they have to correctly predict which team will be victorious in a single match, such as a One Day or a match taking place as part of a bigger tournament. However as most cricket matches have a favourite to win and an underdog, the odds will reflect this as successful wagers on the favoured team will pay out at less than even money, and successful odds on the underdog will pay out at more than 1 to 1.
Wagers placed on a Series outcome are very similar to match cricket bets, as here the punter must successfully predict who the victor will be out of a three or five match series such as The Ashes.
Future bets for a full tournament outcome, also known as the outright winner in cricket bets, are wagers that are placed at the beginning of a tournament such as the Cricket World Cup. Punters will have to predict who will be the overall winner of the entire tournament.
Player Prop Bets
Not only can Kiwi punters place wagers on match outcomes with regards to cricket bets, but wagers can also be placed on single players with a wide range of player proposition bets. A popular form of player prop bets sees punters predicting which team member will be crowned the top batsman by having scored the most runs. Wagers can be placed on a single match, or an overall series or tournament.
One of the most exciting parts of a cricket match is when a bowler manages to take a wicket, and wagers can be placed on this occurrence as well. The objective with this bet is to predict which player will take the most wickets, and can also be placed on a single match, or an overall series or tournament.
Team Prop Bets
Team prop bets are generally easier to predict than individual prop bets, and as such are popular amongst punters interested in cricket bets. With an odd/even run score wager the aim is to predict if a specific team will earn a total number of odd or even runs, and are similar to first innings score wagers, where punters must correctly predict a team’s total points as odd or even at the end of the first innings.
Overall match score predictions can be difficult to get right, and as such this form generally sees very attractive odds. Rather than a punter having to predict a specific number such as 173, a wager is placed on a range such as 170-180, and thanks to the handsome odds this type of wager generally enjoys, match score wagers are one of the most popular types of cricket bets.