The penultimate match in the league phase of the inaugural The Hundred competition takes place on Tuesday evening as the Northern Superchargers play host to the Birmingham Phoenix at Headingley in a contest where a direct spot to the final is at stake for the visitors.
The Superchargers head into the match knowing that their first season comes to an end after this match, while the Phoenix already know that they will be part of the knockout stages of the event. A win here moves them straight into the Saturday final while defeat sees them meeting local rivals Trent Rockets in the eliminator on Friday.
Northern Superchargers
The Northern Superchargers know their fate heading into this match. The damage was done for them when they were unable to win any of their first three matches. That left them pretty much needing to win out and a loss to the Southern Brave ended their hopes of going through to the knockout stages. They have won three of their last four matches though so it isn’t like they go into this match out of form, they had just left themselves too much to do.
They actually look a neatly balanced side when you consider that in those three wins recently they have restricted their opponents to 127/6, 92/9 and 131, and in that time they have piled up 200 and put a 155/3 on the board as well. It should be noted though that those efforts were against the Manchester Originals who were absolutely terrible on the night and London Spirit who weren’t really a whole lot better. With no competitive pressure on them the Superchargers might be dangerous here.
Birmingham Phoenix
Really and truly though this match is all about the Birmingham Phoenix. They have already answered one of the biggest question marks of the competition in terms of how they would cope without Moeen Ali. They emphatically beat the Trent Rockets without him so they know they can still perform. He isn’t likely to be around here but he should be back for the weekend which will boost their chances of winning the tournament.
The Phoenix have done what you have to do in this competition in terms of making full use of their home advantage. They won four matches out of four at Edgbaston and then their win at Trent Bridge over the weekend has put them in control of their destiny. The Phoenix have won their last four matches and have caught fire with the bat putting up scores of 145/4 (74 balls), 174/4, 184/5 and 166/6. You can get after their attack but that doesn’t seem to matter at the minute.
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Key Men
You get the impression that if the Northern Superchargers are going to win this match then they are going to need their captain David Willey to be on song with the bat and particularly the ball. The Superchargers will need early wickets to contain this Phoenix batting and he’s the man most likely to get them.
In contrast to that, if Finn Allen can get after David Willey and get the Birmingham Phoenix off to a fast start then he might blow the door if not wide open then certainly halfway there. This Headingley pitch should allow him the chance to do that.
Betting
I’m effectively already on the Birmingham Phoenix to win this match at 7/2 as I backed them outright and a win here will secure the place part of that bet. That means I don’t need to get involved in the match betting, particularly as I do think that the Phoenix will win this match. I will take one bet though because I expect to see some fireworks on a ground which is rapidly becoming the fastest scoring venue in the country.
I think we’ll get a load of sixes here. The Northern Superchargers have absolutely nothing to lose so they can swing from the hip. We saw what they can do when it all comes together in the last match here and I don’t see the Birmingham Phoenix changing their game either. They go big with the bat regardless of the situation and hit a lot of sixes themselves. There is a Test match here next week so we won’t be on the middle of the square so there will be a short boundary here. The straight boundaries are a lot shorter than they used to be here too so I fully expect more than 11.5 sixes to take place in this one. I like over 11.5 sixes here.
Tips
Back Over 11.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with BetVictor
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