There is just the one match in the NatWest T20 Blast on Saturday and it is a rare afternoon match in the competition as Nottinghamshire take on the defending champions Northamptonshire at Trent Bridge in front of the Sky cameras in the North Group.
Both sides had wins on Friday night so they should be will of confidence heading into what should be a cracking match with significant implications on the table come the end of the group phase of the competition.
Nottinghamshire
As has been their way so far in both one day formats this season Nottinghamshire won a high scoring clash on this ground on Friday night. They now go in search of back-to-back wins which will have them in a good position to capitalise and press on for a place in the top four as they look for a one day trophy double this season.
Clearly we have seen so far in the tournament that their strength lies with the bat. Twice in the competition already they have shipped over 200 which isn’t good but they have also scored more than 200 too and have been scoring big in one day cricket for most of the campaign. If their bowling finds form they could be a danger.
Northamptonshire
As a general rule Northamptonshire do not have a good record against Nottinghamshire but they will have good memories from beating them at T20 Finals Day last season. Northants won a semi-final between the two on that occasion and they will be looking for another win over the Outlaws in this one.
Northants have a solid batting line up which is a very deep one but their strength may well lie with the ball. They have no what you would call standout stars with the ball but they bowl well as a unit and have a captain who knows which fields to set and which formulas to use and that cannot be underestimated.
Team News
It is now well known that Nottinghamshire will be without Michael Lumb from now on after he was forced to retire this week. Greg Smith also chose to retire while Stuart Broad is away with England.
Northamptonshire were hoping to have Seekkuge Prasanna available from here on in but he has gone lame. Tabraiz Shamsi has extended his stay to take in this match but Mohammad Azharullah is out. Richard Levi is back in the fold after injury though.
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Betting
When I look at the match odds for this match I believe Northamptonshire are good value for this one at 13/10 but sadly the weather looks like it could be lingering around the midlands and I would want to know for sure that the champions are chasing before I get involved.
There are two bets I will take prior to the start though. The first comes in the sixes where the line is daft at 9.5. We saw 23 sixes here on Friday night admittedly on a pitch that had a short boundary to the New Stand but it might well be that we are on that pitch again here especially with the Test deck unlikely to be ready for use. If we think back to last year these two played out that Royal London One Day Cup match here which saw both sides belt over 400 and I’m expecting a high scoring match here. I fully expect this line to get covered and covered comfortably.
Rob Keogh has been going fairly well in this tournament for Northamptonshire and even though he bats at number six he is a decent price to top score for them in this one. He has 20*, 41* and 37 in his last three matches so he is scoring well and at 7/1 there is a decent margin for him to be backed given how well he is hitting the ball.
Tips
WON – Back Over 9.5 sixes for a 6/10 stake at 1.85 with Coral
Back it here:
Back R.Keogh Top Northamptonshire Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with Betfred
Back him here:
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