Friday has arrived which means that we have another full fixture list in the Vitality Blast with four matches in both groups as we move towards the halfway mark of the league phase of the domestic T20 competition.
Although the Test match is getting much of the TV attention, we will have one match live on the TV after play at Lord’s has concluded and the other seven matches will all be available via the streams that the counties provide.
North Group
The Birmingham Bears have flown out of the traps this season and have won their opening four matches. They will have their captain Moeen Ali available for the first time this term too when they put their perfect record on the line away to Derbyshire. Worcestershire are also perfect for the competition so far and they will be looking to maintain that record when they go away to a Nottinghamshire side who have lost their last two matches. Durham and Lancashire complete the top four heading into the evening and they meet at the Riverside while even this early in the season neither Northamptonshire or Leicestershire can afford to lose when they meet at Wantage Road.
South Group
The televised action goes back to the South Group on Friday evening where for the third time in this relatively young season Surrey will be in front of the cameras. They make the trip to Bristol to take on Gloucestershire who have made an up and down start to their campaign. Somerset are the ones who have flown the lids in this group and they host a Middlesex side who look worse than ever while Essex have won their opening two matches and will look for three in a row when they host the champions Hampshire at Chelmsford. Glamorgan take on Kent at Cardiff in the other match.
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TV Match Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets in the TV match which the first of those coming in the form of Surrey to hit more than 21.5 boundaries. This Gloucestershire bowling attack is missing a couple of cogs. That was probably always going to be the case when they were unable to keep Benny Howell and Ryan Higgins and they are showing signs of creaking at the seams. Once teams get through the new ball spell of David Payne and Matt Taylor there isn’t a whole lot to come and on a ground where the dimensions always ensure some short boundaries I expect a Surrey batting unit which keeps on coming with big hitters to take full advantage. The issue Gloucestershire have is Payne and Taylor will be bowling to two brilliant batters and there is no guarantee that they take early wickets. If they don’t carnage can ensue. Either way, I expect more than 21.5 Surrey boundaries.
Sean Abbott has left the Surrey ranks now and the only previous time this season that he didn’t feature Sunil Narine batted at five and top scored. That was in a defeat at Hove and I will pay to see how he goes here because in theory Narine matches up well to this Gloucestershire attack. Importantly, he will be away from the new ball spell of Payne and Taylor and the rest of the middle over attack have gone around the park at an alarming rate. Narine is a brutal hitter of spin and Gloucestershire come in with three of those in the middle overs so should Payne or Taylor sort out Will Jacks up top the door might well be open for Narine to top score once again.
Other Match Betting
I like two other bets over the course of the evening. The first of those comes from Taunton where I am expecting a high scoring match between Somerset and Middlesex and as such I don’t think the 43.5 boundaries line is high enough. The Middlesex bowling unit looks terrible and while bowling at outgrounds probably does them no favours I just don’t see anyone in it who is going to keep the scoring down. This might not be an outground but it is a tiny ground and the Somerset batters have already delivered some brutal hitting. The positive for Middlesex is that they have a few who can get the ball to the boundary themselves and so in a high scoring match I expect this line to be covered without too many problems.
Another batting unit I expect to deliver the goods is the Birmingham Bears when they face Derbyshire. Derbyshire have to back up a performance from the night before which is never an easy thing to do, especially for bowlers, but in truth their bowling hasn’t shown up this term. Even when they won on Thursday against Leicestershire it looked like 190 would get chased down. Derbyshire have conceded 180 in three of their four matches and in the other one Northamptonshire reached 152/4 with two overs left so they would have made 170 had their needed to. Birmingham have already scored 200 twice in four matches and would have pushed that total had they not reached their target against Leicestershire. With Moeen Ali adding to the hitting power I expect Birmingham to clear a 15.5 fours line in this one.
Tips
Back Surrey – Over 21.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
Back S.Narine Top Surrey Batter for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with William Hill
Back them here:
Back Somerset vs Middlesex – Over 43.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back Birmingham Bears – Over 15.5 fours for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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