There are two matches in the NatWest T20 Blast on Tuesday evening with each one carrying do or die natures to them as we head towards the final set of group matches on Friday night.
The tournament has gone up a notch in terms of match importance now and we are likely to get two tense and nervy matches on Tuesday. The good news is that we get to see one of them on the TV and there are many ways to keep up with the other one. We’ll kick things off with the TV match even though it is the later game.
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Derbyshire vs Durham
The home side are the ones under pressure in this match. Durham have been out of this competition pretty much since the start after they were deducted points heading into the tournament. Derbyshire have been the surprise packages of this group and they begin this one knowing two wins in their last three will see them into the quarter finals.
I had a feeling heading into the tournament that Derbyshire would spoil a few parties and that is exactly what they have done. We are now getting to the stage where things get interesting for them. They are suddenly in a position where everybody expects them to win and qualify for the knockout stages and that is a different pressure.
Durham are out of the competition but that doesn’t mean they have given up completely. They might only have won three matches in this tournament but two of them have been in their last four matches and that could have been three had they not run into a storm that only Alex Hales can produce.
With Keaton Jennings back and Tom Latham with plenty to prove at the top of the order making their batting stronger I fancy Durham could pull off an upset here especially with the amount of solid bowling options they have. Derbyshire are rightfully the favourites but they don’t play under pressure in this format very often so I’ll pay to see how they cope with it.
I will also pay to see if Durham captain Paul Coughlin can come up with the goods with the bat once again. He belted a top scoring 53 off 37 in the defeat to the Birmingham Bears on Sunday and prior to a failure before that against Worcestershire he had made 38*, 29* and 42* in his three previous innings so he is in good touch and 10/1 is a big price for someone in that form.
Middlesex vs Gloucestershire
We have a similar situation at Uxbridge where Middlesex are out of the competition and their opponents Gloucestershire are in must win territory. Even if Gloucestershire win both their matches they face an anxious wait to see if they will go through but they have to take care of their own business first.
Neither of these sides have played well throughout this tournament. Middlesex have flattered to deceive. Generally when Brendon McCullum went big they fared well but when he didn’t they either lost or got lucky to win as was the case in their last win against Sussex which was a match they should have lost.
Gloucestershire are competitive in the majority of their matches but haven’t got over the line. A lack of runs has been their undoing but the likes of Michael Klinger and Ian Cockbain will come good eventually and if they even put up a par score the Bristol side have the variety in their attack to defend it as we saw at Kent earlier in the competition.
I’m not one who thinks must win translates into will win but there is not a whole lot to like about Middlesex maybe aside from their seam attack but I’m not sure how useful they will be on an Uxbridge track that is usually like a road. I’ll side with Gloucestershire here.
Tips
Back Durham to beat Derbyshire for a 4/10 stake at 2.65 with LeoVegas
Back them here:
Back P.Coughlin Top Durham Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Paddy Power
Back him here:
Back Gloucestershire to beat Middlesex for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
Back them here:
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