The knockout action doesn’t officially begin in The Hundred until Friday but the Southern Brave and the Oval Invincibles will embark on a do or die clash a little earlier than that as their match at the Ageas Bowl on Monday evening is effectively a straight knockout.
The winners of this one will guarantee their place in the final stages of the competition while the losers will be watching the latter end of the tournament from their sofas so there really is everything on the line in this one.
Southern Brave
The Southern Brave had a terrible start to the tournament losing their opening two matches and not really being a factor in those matches either. They are unbeaten since then however with four wins and then a washout hindered them at Manchester. The way the Originals have played since that match you would have to say that the Brave dropped a point in that match so to be in this position speaks volumes for how they have improved the longer the competition has gone on.
I think the main thing that has happened for them to improve to the level that they have done is their batting has become a lot more settled. They know they don’t need to put up ridiculous scores to win anyway with the quality bowling attack at their disposal but they have found an order that works and are taking advantage of it. The other thing they have taken advantage of is their home conditions. The Brave have played three and won three at the Ageas Bowl.
Oval Invincibles
The Oval Invincibles will have to do something they haven’t done so far this season if they are going to keep their hopes of winning the tournament alive. That is win away from The Oval. They have four wins from their seven matches to date and all four have come at The Oval. Anything but a win for the Invincibles here and they will be out of the competition so they have it all to do in this match if the history of the tournament so far is anything to go by.
I’m not sure what it is about the Invincibles but when they go on their travels they don’t look like the same side. Their spinners don’t look anything like as threatening and their batsmen seem to get a little stuck in assessing what a good score is. They are going to need both their spinners to bowl well here and their batsmen to assess the conditions properly and quickly if they are going to win what is probably going to be a nervy affair.
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Key Men
You’ve got to think the team that gets off to the best start with the bat in this match could be the ones to play pressure free cricket for the longest which makes me think Paul Stirling is a key man for the Southern Brave. He has excellent memories of the Ageas Bowl after that wonderful knock for Ireland against England here last summer. A big start from him here will do the Brave no harm.
With that in mind, Jason Roy has to be a key figure for the Oval Invincibles. If he can catch fire and get at the likes of George Garton and whoever bowls at the other end then the Invincibles will be able to milk Tymal Mills and still put up a score.
Betting
I like the Southern Brave here. I think going into the tournament that they were the better side and certainly the longer the competition has gone on I think that has remained the case. The Brave are unbeaten at the Ageas Bowl and I don’t think that is a surprise with so many Hampshire players and staff in their ranks. They are generally a very strong side at home in white ball cricket and that looks to have transferred to this competition.
The Oval Invincibles are yet to win away from home. That is a concern but another concern would be that in a must-win match against the London Spirit over the weekend they looked like they were going to make a mess of things until probably the innings of the tournament from Laurie Evans got them over the line. Those knocks don’t come along very often though so Oval will need two or three more stars to step up here. I just think the Brave are the better side and with home conditions in their favour too I’ll side with them to win this one.
Tips
Back Southern Brave to beat Oval Invincibles for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Coral
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