We are 11 days from knowing the identity of the winners of the NatWest T20 Blast and over the next four nights we will find out the four counties who will compete at Finals Day next Saturday. On Tuesday night one of Derbyshire and Hampshire will book their spot there when they meet in the opening quarter final.
Derbyshire booked their place in this last eight clash courtesy of finishing runners-up to Nottinghamshire in the North Group while a final night brain fade from Hampshire saw them finish third in the South.
Derbyshire
The Falcons went into the tournament with one of the worst records of any of the counties in this format of the game, but there was a clear intent to take the competition more seriously, as evidenced by the fact they brought John Wright in as a specialist T20 coach. That move appears to have worked.
Derbyshire have taken a much more aggressive intent into the competition with them this season. Whether it has been that change in style, or simply the fact sides have continued to overlook them, I’m not completely sure but their results have been such that they will fancy their chances here with home advantage.
Hampshire
The most successful side of this decade as far as this tournament is concerned, face a rare road trip in the last eight. Usually when Hampshire qualify they do so in such a dominant way that they have a home match in the quarter final. They would have had a home match this year too had they won their final group match but a hefty defeat may have actually worked in their favour.
Having appeared in six Finals Days that means Hampshire have won six quarter finals which should give them a confidence heading into this contest. We would have to say this has not been Hampshire’s most consistent campaign but they are a side full of star players who raise their game on the big stage.
Team News
Derbyshire will have their captain Gary Wilson back for this match after he missed the previous game as he was on international duty. Imran Tahir will play against his former club.
Hampshire have Michael Carberry back in their squad for the fixture. They will be without Rilee Rossouw, Lewis McManus and Reece Topley but Liam Dawson and Mason Crane are involved.
[the_ad_group id=”3624″]
Betting
When this quarter final was finalised I was hoping someone would make a stand against Hampshire and that has happened with a huge 4/5 quote slated up about James Vince’s charges. Derbyshire have done really well to make it this far but knockout cricket is a different animal and Hampshire are vastly experienced in it.
Hampshire have a host of players who have played at the very highest level who know how to perform under pressure. Two years ago they went to Worcestershire in the quarter final in a similar situation to this and were far too strong and I expect them to be the same here.
Many people seem to think this will be a low scoring encounter but I am not so sure. Many of Derbyshire’s matches have been high scoring this season and Hampshire’s attack has gone the distance a few times too. Clearly Derbyshire will need to bat well against the leg spinners but they face one of the best in the nets every day so that shouldn’t be an issue. If we ignore the last match here which was a dead rubber the previous two covered a 310.5 line and earlier in the competition 211/5 played 176/9 here. That 310.5 line looks too low.
Usually when Hampshire need a big performance from their captain, especially on Sky, James Vince delivers. I’m surprised he has a runs line as low as 24.5 in this match because Derbyshire have been profligate with the ball early on in their bowling innings and Vince has been in terrific form this season with more than 400 runs thus far. I like the overs there as Hampshire’s captain carries the burden of getting his side off to a good start.
I am also going to take a punt on the Derbyshire captain Gary Wilson top scoring for his side. Inexperience could go against the home side in this match but their captain doesn’t lack for that. He is actually a decent batsman at this level and will have faced the Hampshire attack often in his time at Surrey. At 8/1 he could be overpriced if Reece and Madsen are out cheaply.
Tips
WON – Back Hampshire to beat Derbyshire for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Titanbet
Back them here:
WON – Back Over 310.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back it here:
WON – Back J.Vince – Over 24.5 runs for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
Back G.Wilson Top Derbyshire Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 9.00 with Winner Sports
Back him here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2017
