Proteas turn out as odds-on favourites in series opener against Zimbabwe

South Africa will turn out as firm favourites to get their campaign off to a winning start, but hosts Zimbabwe will be hungry to cause an upset on home soil in the opening T20 International tri-series match in Harare on Monday (1pm start).

Fresh off a dominant victory in the two-match Test series which concluded last week, the Proteas will fancy their chances of securing another win.

However, the T20 format will narrow the gap in both quality and depth between the two teams, and the home side will also feel they have a real opportunity to turn things around in the tri-series (which also features New Zealand).

Over the last year, South Africa (ranked fifth in the world) have won only four of the 12 T20 matches they have played.

Over the same period, Zimbabwe (ranked 12th) have won eight of their 14 T20 matches. And while they generally faced lower-ranked opposition than the teams South Africa played over the last 12 months, they did pick up wins over Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Chasing historic victory

However, Zimbabwe have never beaten the Proteas in a T20 match and they will need to be at their best to earn a historic victory.

In seven previous T20 fixtures between the two teams, South Africa have won five of them, while one game was abandoned and the other did not produce a result.

Therefore, backing South Africa with your Betway cash will give you minimal returns, with 1.18 on offer if they emerge triumphant.

For punters willing to take more of a risk, you’ll get odds of 4.65 by backing Zimbabwe for the win, while 14.00 is available for a tie.

Safer bets with good returns are also on offer for a wide range of other markets, including the highest-scoring batter, the length of the match and the Player of the Match, among others.

Please note that these Betway odds are correct at the time of publishing.