The first trophy of the English county cricket season will be handed out on Thursday when Glamorgan play host to Durham in the final of the Royal London One Day Cup under the lights at Trent Bridge.
These two teams haven’t been regular winners of silverware over the last few years so this represents a big occasion for both clubs despite the disparity people want to make of the tournament in light of it going up against The Hundred.
Where to watch
For the first time this season in this competition, the final will have the TV treatment with the match being shown in full on the Sky Sports The Hundred channel. The build-up to the final beginning at 12.30pm and the first ball due to be sent down in Nottingham at 1pm.
Glamorgan
Probably to the surprise of most judges, Glamorgan have made their way nicely into this final. I would suggest not many had Glamorgan down as potential tournament winners when Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser went home before the competition began and then The Hundred accounted for the services of the likes of David Lloyd, Colin Ingram, Chris Cooke and Timm van der Gugten, but they are here on merit for a crack at their first one day title in 17 years.
Glamorgan won their group in the first phase of the competition then produced a wonderful run chase to see off Essex in the semi-final and book their spot in this final. They have been very good with the bat in this competition, especially at the top of their innings, so if their bowlers can get stuck in early in this contest the Welsh side wouldn’t be without a chance, especially if their openers can fire once again.
Durham
There probably weren’t many more who were tipping Durham to make it through this final when the likes of Ben Stokes, Ben Raine, Matty Potts and Brydon Carse were all taken away either by England or The Hundred. They have shown the depth they have in their squad and will hope to do that here and win their first trophy since they fell on hard times a few years ago. A win here would be justification of their hard work since then regardless of what people want to say about the competition.
Much like their opponents in this match, Durham also won their group in the initial phase of the competition. They then followed suit in the semi-final as well by pulling off a fine run chase to see off a determined Surrey side and book their spot in this final. The Durham batting has been the strongest in the tournament and then the new ball spell of Chris Rushworth has proved too much to handle quite often. One more main course with that recipe could see Durham to the title.
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Team News
Glamorgan have resisted the temptation to pick their players who have been away at The Hundred. David Lloyd and Timm van der Gugten were available but Glamorgan will pick from the same squad they have done throughout the tournament and are likely to be unchanged from the semi-final.
Durham have gone the other way and they have added Ben Raine and Matthew Potts to their squad from the semi-final with Jack Campbell and Luke Doneathy the men most likely to miss out on this showpiece occasion.
Betting
I expected Durham to be shorter for this final than 8/11 before the confirmation came that they would have two of their players back from The Hundred. I think they’ve been the better side of the two in the tournament and I think they have more cards to play. That is even more the case now they get a couple of bowlers back to strengthen their attack who have spent the last few weeks bowling to world class batsmen and who it has to be said drop down a level here.
Glamorgan have been relying on their top three a little too much for my liking in the competition and they won’t have it easy against Chris Rushworth who has been in fine form in recent times. Even if they do navigate their way past Rushworth they’ll have two stronger bowlers to come up against them they would have if they faced Durham in the semi-final. Durham’s top six is full of class and with them all having had plenty of time in the middle they can all be the match winner should they need. I expect Durham to have too much here.
Tips
Back Durham to beat Glamorgan for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with BetVictor
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