Cricket is an incredibly popular sport, and its popularity is growing quickly around the world. Although the game was mainly played in countries such as New Zealand, Australia, India, Pakistan, England, South Africa and the West Indies for many years, the success of different formats of Cricket, such as one-day games and Twenty20 matches, has seen Cricket boom.
The game is now played at club and international level around the globe. From North America to the Middle-East, Asia, to mainland Europe, and North Africa.
In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at the Cricket betting markets available in New Zealand, the competitions and tournaments that are covered, highlight some of the best Cricket odds available, and explain how you can take advantage of live Cricket betting.
There are three main forms of Cricket played around the world by both international teams and at club level. These are Twenty20, One Day games and Test Cricket.
Twenty20 (T20) was only played in England for the first time in 2003 and has since gone from strength to strength. It was the English Cricket Board (ECB) that came up with an exciting competition to boost the game's popularity with a younger audience. The first official Twenty20 matches were played on 13 June 2003 between the counties of the English game in the Twenty20 Cup.
A Twenty20 game will see two teams have one single innings each to score as many runs as possible in their restricted maximum of 20 overs.
Twenty20 was originally meant to be played at a domestic level and was never intended to be played internationally. However, the first Twenty20 International took place in 2005 with Australia defeating New Zealand.
By 2007, the first international tournament was played with the introduction of the ICC T20 World Cup and, as of 2021, 90 nations now feature in the ICC T20I team rankings.
The T20 form of the game probably offers the most number of Cricket betting markets and certainly some of the more exciting games.
One Day Internationals (ODI) is another form of limited overs cricket played between two competing sides. Each team has an innings each to score as many runs as possible with the overs currently limited to 50 per side.
The first ODI was played in 1971 between Australia and England at the MCG. It came about after the first three days of a Test match between the sides had been washed out by rain. So, officials decided to play a one-off, one day game that consisted of 40 overs per team, and so ODI Cricket was born.
Although there have been some subtle changes over the years, today, twenty nations are recognised in the ICC ODI Team Rankings and international sides compete for the World Cup every four years using this format.
International Test Cricket is the oldest form of the game, dating back to the 18th century. It is the longest form of the game played between two sides and can last up to five days in duration. Each team has two innings each of an unlimited number of overs over these days. Test Cricket is considered to be the highest standard of the game as it ‘tests’ a side’s endurance and ability.
The first officially recognised Test match took place between 15 and 19 March in 1877 between England and Australia. Today, just 12 nations hold Test status, and they are, in the order status was awarded, England, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Ireland, and Afghanistan.
Although Test matches were played between nations for pride rather than as part of a tournament for decades, the ICC World Test Championship was held between 2019-2021. In this league format, the two teams who acquired the most ranking points met in a one-off game. New Zealand were the first ever victors, beating India in the final by 8 wickets.
The biggest series in Test Cricket is undoubtedly the one played between England and Australia, who compete for ‘The Ashes’ every 2-3 years. The rivalry dates back to 1882 and traditionally consists of a five Test series. Each nation takes it in turn to host the series at least once every two years.
So far, there have been 72 Ashes series, with Australia winning on 34 occasions to England’s 32. Six series have been drawn and when this occurs, the team that is the current holder of the Ashes gets to retain the trophy.
The term ‘The Ashes’ originated in a satirical obituary that was published in a British newspaper after Australia won a Test for the first time on English soil in 1882. The obituary stated that English cricket had died and "...the body will be cremated, and the ashes taken to Australia".
This is always a fiercely contested series and will offer some great Cricket betting markets to get involved with when it is next played.
Away from international Cricket, perhaps one of the best-known domestic competitions in the world is the Indian Premier League (IPL). It is a Twenty20 tournament that is played in a league format. The competition was founded in 2007 and takes place every year between March and May.
The IPL is the most-attended cricket league in the world and attracts international stars from all over the world due to the prize money the players can earn. This is again a very popular event to bet on.
Betting on Cricket at LeoVegas is very easy and fun to do. First, you will need to navigate your way to the online sports betting page and select ‘Browse Sports’ where a drop-down menu will be revealed for you to search for Cricket. This will open a list of the different competitions that the site has Cricket betting markets for from around the world.
Both club games and international games are covered. Once you have found the event you want to bet on, select it and you will be taken to a page where a range of Cricket betting markets will be available, including the outright markets and event markets.
The online cricket betting section of LeoVegas New Zealand offers many options for you to choose from. There will be loads of markets that cover games and tournaments from around the globe.
The advice would be to have a look at all the different competitions that the site covers to get familiar with them. By doing some research first, you are only setting yourself up for success. Once you have scoured through the markets, pick a game or competition that you are interested in.
You might notice that many of the competition betting pages will have outright markets, and separate event markets. Outright markets cover who might win a specific competition, whilst event markets are more focused on individual games and the relevant markets that feature for that game.
Explore the betting markets on offer and get used to the Cricket betting odds on offer.
Live Cricket betting is an exciting way to place bets and can come with more advantages by doing it this way. The main plus is that you can be watching the game unfold and get a better understanding of how the game might turn out.
Cricket betting before an event can offer better odds, but if you place a live Cricket bet on a player who seems to be batting well, or who is bowling well, you have gained that advantage just by watching the action.
The live Cricket betting markets at LeoVegas New Zealand will appear at the top of the competition screen if there are live games in play. You place a bet as you would normally, but because the game is taking place live, the odds can change quickly depending on whether something like a boundary is scored, or a wicket is taken.
The main Cricket betting market you will see is for the match winner. This simply offers odds on which team might win the game. The draw will also be offered, but this is a very rare result in Cricket.
Other interesting ways to bet on a match can be found by clicking on the game to open more markets. These can include ‘Player Runs’ where you bet on how many runs a player might score. Or there is the ‘Wickets’ market, so you can bet on how many wickets a bowler might take.
The LeoVegas New Zealand betting site is very easy to navigate around and features hundreds of markets to bet on. The site and the mobile app covers every sport you can think of from around the world.
You can bet from the comfort of your own home, or on the go by downloading the betting app to your mobile device.
You can even benefit from some of the generous bonuses and promotions on offer for existing customers, but also for new customers using the Sports Betting Welcome Offer
Cricket has become one of the most popular sports across the world, with various competitions and markets to bet across.
Some of the bets available to punters, include; match results, innings, top bowlers and outrights such as the competition’s winner.
When placing a lay bet, you are betting against an event occurring. For example, if you select a lay bet against a specific team in Cricket, you are predicting that they won’t win the game.
On the other side of things, a back bet would be betting on an event happening, which you might be more familiar with. In this scenario, punters could be placing a bet on a team to win the World Cup.
Odds can be used to inform you on the probability of an event occurring, as well as, the potential payout that the bet could provide if successful. These can be represented as both decimal or fractional odds.
Having an understanding of odds and what they represent can help you to find the best bets when you’re exploring the latest markets.
It is also important to be aware of how odds can change within Cricket. Certain events and key injuries that can occur in the run up to an event could alter the odds going into the game.
There is no specific strategy that could guarantee you an outcome with Cricket betting as the end result comes down to so many different factors.
However, there are certain tips that punters can follow to make more informed decisions with their bets, helping to find the best odds on the market.
Following the latest Cricket news can help to understand how matches might play out as some teams can lose key players in the build up to the game. For example, losing a key player could prevent a favoured team from securing a win.
Monitoring a team or player’s form could help when looking at outright bets such as Top Bowler or Match Winner.
If you’re unfamiliar with a handicap bet, these bets are usually available for team sports such as Cricket and Football. Applying a handicap to a favoured team could mean that they start the game on negative points. This would require them to beat the underdog by a certain amount of points in order for them to win in regards to the bet.
For example, you might place a handicap on an underdog of +15 runs. This would mean that the opposition would need to win by an extra 15 runs for your bet to be voided.
Yes, spread betting is available within Cricket. With a spread bet, you might predict that a match will be won or lost by a certain spread of points such as +10/-10.
Player of the Match awards are provided to the individual that has made the biggest and most influential impact on the game.
As part of Cricket betting, you can predict which player you believe could be named Player of the Match by the end of the game.
The highest wicket taker accolade is provided to the player that is able to “out” the most players within a game.
Adding to the many betting options available, the top wicket taker is another bet that punters can make.
Achieving a century in the game of Cricket, requires a batsman to hit 100 runs in one single inning. To be awarded a fifty, players will need to score 50 runs.
Fifty (Also known as half-century) and Century bets are available on the betting markets, offering punters with the option to select an individual that might achieve these accolades within a game.