The Champions Trophy takes a break on Tuesday but that doesn’t mean we go without cricket as we have two Royal London One Day Cup quarter finals to enjoy. I say two because the format has changed this year to keep the fixtures down although quite why two matches being cut will make a difference I’m not sure!
It is what it is though and we’re left with two matches. One of them is live on TV which is the later game between Yorkshire and Surrey while the other sees Somerset taking on Nottinghamshire at Taunton. Kudos to Somerset as they are providing a live stream for the match so we can keep up with it. We’ll go with that one first as it is the early start.
Somerset vs Nottinghamshire
Second place in the South Group, Somerset, host third place in the North Group, Nottinghamshire for the right to head to Chelmsford to meet Essex in the semi-final on Friday. Both these sides are very good in this format of the game so this should be a cracker.
Importantly with the exception of Alex Hales both sides are at full strength for the match so we should get a really good game of cricket here. I favour Somerset here because I think their batting looks stronger.
You look at their batting and you would say the ‘weakest link’ is Adam Hose but he’s in tremendous form and they have plenty of all-rounders so their batting keeps coming. Nottinghamshire look a little light at the top without Hales and while they have an edge with the ball I’m not sure it is a significant one.
That edge may even be negated with some heavy legs after Nottinghamshire spent all of Monday running in on a Bristol road trying to bowl Gloucestershire out. That is all enough to take Somerset when added together.
I’ll take Somerset but I’ve got to take the sixes here too. We shouldn’t ignore the first match here where there were only three sixes but I’m going to because there were more than 50 fours in that match which is insane and Somerset were five down in no time. Since then there have been 18, 12 and 13 sixes here and I’m expecting more in this one.
Taunton hosts a first ever T20 international next Friday which is a huge deal and they’ve just finished a four day game here so the wicket could well be away from the middle of the square. I’m assuming the England vs SA pitch will be in the middle. A potential short boundary and two powerful batting line ups should see the sixes flow.
I also can’t resist a cheeky punt on Samit Patel to top score for the visitors. He comes in here off the back of a magnificent 250 in the Championship and he nailed a ton in Nottinghamshire’s last one day match. He also has two 50s in the competition and has near enough 100 more runs than anyone else for Notts in this so at 4/1 he looks a solid top bat pick.
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Yorkshire vs Surrey
The other quarter final sees the side second in the North hosting the side third in the South when Yorkshire host Surrey in a repeat of last season’s semi-final which Surrey won. Both sides have had long journeys after Championship matches on Monday which won’t have helped.
I have to be with the visitors here though. They are the better one day side anyway but they are at full strength with the exception of Jason Roy who only played two group matches due to being in the IPL so they’ve coped without him. Yorkshire are without Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Adil Rashid, David Willey and Liam Plunkett who all played half the group stage or more so Surrey have that on their side and very much the better bowling attack at their disposal so I’m with them to win this.
One of those bowlers, Sam Curran, has a performance line which looks low. It is 40.5 but with Curran averaging more than two wickets a match in the competition he has every chance of covering that. Curran comes into this match with 50s in his three Championship matches since the RLODC stint and he has seven wickets in his last three matches in this tournament. He’s a form horse and bowling at key times, batting at seven and being in the field he should contribute massively.
In terms of a top bat I’m with Ben Foakes here. He made 65* in the Championship at the weekend and has four 50s in five knocks in this competition. Kumar Sangakkara has rightly made the headlines this season but if he doesn’t deliver then it could be down to Foakes, who should bat at four of five, to do it.
Tips
Back Somerset to beat Nottinghamshire for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with Bwin
Back them here:
WON – Back Somerset vs Nottinghamshire – Over 10.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.85 with Ladbrokes
Back it here:
Back S.Patel Top Nottinghamshire Batsman for a 2/10 stake at 5.00 with 888sport
Back him here:
WON – Back Surrey to beat Yorkshire for a 4/10 stake at 2.10 with Winner Sports
Back them here:
Back S.Curran’s Performance – Over 40.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back it here:
Back B.Foakes Top Surrey Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 8.00 with Betbright
Back him here:
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