The rains of Friday have passed which means that we can enjoy some Vitality Blast cricket again where we have a TV match on Saturday evening as Kent take on Somerset in the South Group down at Canterbury.
Somerset were lucky enough to get their first match in on Thursday which they won, so they have something of a head start on the field. Kent will be getting their campaign underway in this outing so both have every chance of enhancing their early position.
Kent
I always think Kent have flattered to deceive in this competition, but whether I expect too much from them this term I’m not so sure. They have been struggling with injuries for most of the campaign and that remains the case here, while England call ups aren’t exactly helping them either. They must be comfortable with the squad they have put together to allow Darren Stevens to leave for the T20s but this one doesn’t look as strong to me on paper.
If it does have something going for it then it is that it doesn’t lack for bowling options, which is often a key thing in the shortest format of the game. The flip side of having so many bowlers is that the batting looks a little on the flimsy side and that is something they are going to have to negotiate if that isn’t to hold them back over the course of the tournament.
Somerset
The Cidermen laid down their credentials for this competition in their opening match when they demolished Glamorgan courtesy of a brutal batting performance. If there was a concern to come out of that contest then it would have been in the fact that they allowed the Welsh outfit to get up to 180 but it was clearly a good wicket so how concerned we should be about them I’m unsure in fairness.
We saw in the 50 over competition that Somerset can bowl sides out although a lot of their matches in that tournament were high scoring so it could be a trend we need to look for here. When you have a batting line up as powerful as they do I guess it takes a lot of pressure off them with the ball. All eyes will be on those batters to see if they can continue to deliver the goods here.
New customers, bet £/€20 on the Exchange and if your first bet loses, we’ll refund you £/€20 in Cash. T&Cs apply. 18+|Gamble Aware.
Team News
Kent will be missing a number of players for this match with Heino Kuhn ruled out on concussion grounds while England have taken Joe Denly and injury has put paid to Sam Billings. Adam Milne, Mohammad Nabi and Hardus Viljoen make their first appearances for the Spitfires this season.
Lewis Gregory and Jack Leach will be unavailable for the Somerset side here as they are both away with England now. Tim Groenewald could come into the side while Tom Abell will skipper it in the absence of Gregory.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets for this match with the first one coming in the form of the boundaries where I think a 39.5 line might be a little on the high side here. Both teams are missing key batsmen for this match. You could argue that Kent are missing their best three batsmen and while they have others a lot of them are bits and pieces players. Somerset will be without Lewis Gregory and while he bats down the order it might stop Somerset going as hard as they like so quickly. We’re going to see a lot of tired wickets in this tournament so this line might be a couple too big.
With Joe Denly and Heino Kuhn both missing it would appear that Zak Crawley will open the batting for Kent in this match and 6/1 on any opener to be the top scorer for his side is an opportunity we can’t pass up. Crawley is easily the most talented Kent batsman these days so the 6/1 on him looks even bigger on that basis. We know he’ll bat which is never a bad place to be and if he can get off to a good start I expect him to be the one they will all bat round. He looks big at 6/1.
Tips
WON – Back Under 39.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back Z.Crawley Top Kent Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 7.00 with William Hill
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019
