The third round of the LV= County Championship takes place this week with another three matches in each group getting underway on Thursday and with the morning papers suggesting a heatwave is on the way, the action should be hot on and off the field!
With there only being 10 group matches for each county in this first phase of the event, each match counts for plenty this season. They can all be viewed across the various live stream services that the home county provides.
Group 1
Wins have been hard to come by in Group 1 so far this season but the two sides who have one to their name meet in a top of the table clash as Warwickshire host Essex at Edgbaston in a match where the winners will take early control of the group. The other four sides are all winless in this section, although Durham might be wondering how they failed to beat Essex last week having bowled out the champions for just 96 in the first innings. They will look to bounce back when they host a Derbyshire side who couldn’t quite get over the line last week. It was Worcestershire that denied Derbyshire in the last few overs last week and they will look to build on that escape when they host Nottinghamshire at New Road.
Group 2
Two teams have spread away from the field in Group 2 and they meet at the Ageas Bowl this week as Hampshire host Gloucestershire. If there is a winner in that match that county will be in control of the section but even the loser will still remain favourites to make it into Division One later in the competition. Somerset picked up an amazing win in the opening week of the season before losing to Gloucestershire last week. They take on Leicestershire at Grace Road this week. The other match in the group comes from Lord’s where Middlesex host Surrey in the first London derby of the season.
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Group 3
The closest of the three groups after the opening round of matches is Group 3 with just four points separating the top three heading into this week. Two of those teams meet in Hove where top of the table Sussex host third placed Yorkshire while second placed Lancashire make the trip to Canterbury to take on Kent. Lancashire will be looking to build on their win over Northamptonshire last week. The bottom two in the table also meet when Glamorgan host Northamptonshire in what looks like a must win match for both sides.
Betting
I like Durham this week. They didn’t have enough in them to get the better of Essex last week but they are not playing Essex here. The fact they had Essex beat for probably 70% of their match last week is encouraging even though they couldn’t quite get over the line. It was unfortunate that they couldn’t get the job done but we shouldn’t ignore the good work they did in those first innings and if they can repeat that here they may well have the beating of a Derbyshire side who are solid but not in the same league as Essex.
In recent seasons Durham have really struggled with the bat. I never thought that would be the case this season though with Scott Borthwick and Will Young around to begin with and Cameron Bancroft later in the season as well as Daniel Bedingham, who hit the ground running in the first match. Durham don’t tend to struggle for wickets at home and although Derbyshire went well in four day cricket last season, you get the impression they will be at their very best when Billy Stanlake arrives. He isn’t here this week though so I’m happy to be on Durham to get their home campaign off to a winning start.
Tips
PUSH – Back Durham to beat Derbyshire (DNB) for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Boylesports
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