USA vs Ireland Cricket Odds, Picks, Best Bets | T20 World Cup 2024

United States vs. Ireland T20 Cricket World Cup Odds, Picks, Best Bets

Team USA will meet Ireland at Central Broward Park in Lauderhill, Fla., on Friday morning in what is easily the biggest cricket match in American history.

If the Stars & Stripes avoid defeat, they will qualify for the Super 8 round of the 2024 T20 Cricket World Cup. It would be a remarkable achievement considering the U.S. was drawn into a group with India and Pakistan.

Should the Yanks lose to the Irish, Pakistan would qualify for the Super 8s with a win over Ireland on Sunday.

The wrench in all of this is that the Americans will advance if their contest with Ireland is rained out, as the rules state that each team gets awarded a point if there is a washout. Heavy rain has been falling in the area for the last several days and thunderstorms are expected to remain through the weekend.

Odds via FanDuel. Chance to win based on implied probability of the odds, with the vigorish removed.

T20 Cricket World Cup: USA vs. Ireland Prediction

(10:30 a.m. ET, Wlliow TV)

It might be surprising to see Ireland as the betting favorite over the Americans. The Irish are 0-2 in the tournament and struggled against both Canada and India.

Not only has Team USA played much better than Ireland, but you'd imagine that the action would be pretty lopsided in the Americans' favor considering the whole country (at least those that have been paying attention) will be behind them.

But the truth is that Ireland was considered to be in a class above the U.S. coming into the tournament. Some folks thought that it would be the Irish who would be in the position to upset the apple cart in Group A and not the Americans.

Further muddying these waters is the fact that neither team has played a match on this wicket. In fact, no team has played a ball on this field in this tournament because of the weather.

T20 Cricket World Cup: USA vs. Ireland Pick, Best Bet

This World Cup has been dominated by talk of tricky wickets and hard-scoring conditions (especially in New York), so hazarding a guess on how things will play out in Lauderhill — particularly after the monsoon-like conditions in Florida this week — is a fool's errand.

With the conditions unknown, Ireland reeling and the Americans looking dangerous after a respectable effort in a loss to India, playing the underdog makes sense on Friday.

Pick: Team USA (+122 at FanDuel)