The third quarter final of the Vitality Blast takes place on Saturday and we are into the day matches for this one as Worcestershire face Gloucestershire at New Road. Lancashire and Sussex are already at Finals Day and one of these two will join them.
Worcestershire qualified for this contest courtesy of winning the North Group while Gloucestershire came through in fourth in the South but for much of their campaign they were much higher than that. These two are good outfits opposing each other here.
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Worcestershire
It has been a good few weeks for the Worcestershire Rapids. They have powered through their group in this competition, blowing a number of sides way with some huge scores and some decent enough bowling in the main and then they go into this game off the back of smashing Yorkshire in the County Championship.
We’ve seen Worcestershire improve as a side over the last few years with most of their better cricket coming in the 50 over competition where they have regularly been in the knockout stages but all too frequently we’ve seen them fail to play their best cricket when they get there and that is something they need to avoid here. Worcestershire have never been to Finals Day so this match is massive for them as a club.
Gloucestershire
The league table says that Gloucestershire finished fourth in the South Group but that was only because they lost their final two matches when they had already qualified. They spent much of the time in the top two in the table so there is a slight falseness about their league position. They were unable to arrest their slide when they were well beaten by Warwickshire in the County Championship.
Gloucestershire haven’t been at Finals Day since 2007 which is quite an amazing statistic when you consider how good a one day side they have been both historically and recently. It wasn’t long ago they were winning the 50 over competition. Throughout the test of time Gloucestershire have generally excelled in pressure situations.
Team News
Worcestershire will have their captain Moeen Ali available for this match while Callum Ferguson plays the final game of his overseas stint here. Wayne Parnell will fill the other overseas position. Brett D’Oliviera has been named in the squad.
Gloucestershire have Michael Klinger and Andrew Tye available for this quarter final. They have named a 14 man squad for the match which includes all of their main protagonists so they should have plenty of options.
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Betting
This should be a really good quarter final but I can’t help but think the knockout struggles Worcestershire have encountered in the 50 over competition could spill over here and if this gets tight you would have to fancy Gloucestershire as the ones who are most likely to get the job done. Worcestershire have a stronger, longer and more powerful batting line up but that has never bothered Gloucestershire. They have a real class act with the bat and another with the ball and their medium pacers and spinners could prove hard to get away on what could be a tacky wicket given Friday’s huge rainfall. You can make a case for either side here but odds against on Gloucestershire will do me.
Ross Whiteley has already delivered the goods for me in this competition and at 9/1 I’ll pay to see if he can go in again in the top Worcestershire batsman market. The market is largely about Moeen Ali and to a lesser extent Callum Ferguson but if the Gloucestershire seamers can get stuck in early Worcestershire might need another cameo from Whiteley at a tidy price.
Tips
Back Gloucestershire to beat Worcestershire for a 4/10 stake at 2.15 with 888sport
Back them here:
Back R.Whiteley Top Worcestershire Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 10.00 with Betfair
Back him here:
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