The Hundred continues on Wednesday evening when a repeat of the first final in the history of the tournament takes place as the Southern Brave play host to the Birmingham Phoenix in another big match at the Ageas Bowl.
These two are part of the seven team logjam from second to last in the table and will know the reward for winning can be plentiful but losing will leave them facing an uphill task to be involved in the final stages.
Where to watch
The match will be shown on a number of channels. You can catch it on BBC Two, Sky Main Event, Sky Cricket or Sky Mix. The build-up begins at 6pm with the first ball at 6.30pm.
Southern Brave
It has been a bit of a rocky road for the Southern Brave so far but they begin the evening in fourth place and will move clear of the pack and up to second should they come out on top here. They have a pair of wins, a couple of losses and a washout to show for their five matches so far but there are two ways of looking at things. Their wins came against the Welsh Fire who they don’t play again, while defeats to the Trent Rockets and Northern Superchargers don’t look as bad now but the first of those was a match they should have won.
One issue the Brave have had is that they have been unable to get a settled XI onto the park. That was always a fear of mine heading into the tournament, although to be fair it is a couple of players who you wouldn’t expect to miss out who have done. I think it is fair to say we are still waiting for the Brave batting to really turn up in this tournament and they will be hoping it comes here. They are more than adequate with the ball though when they get their best players on the pitch.
Birmingham Phoenix
It was a disastrous start to the season for the Birmingham Phoenix with a couple of losses and a couple of washouts in their opening four matches, although one of those washouts was probably a good thing before they were well behind the eight-ball when the rain set in. Thankfully for them, they showed some ticker and pride in beating the Oval Invincibles last time out and will be looking for another solid performance to get themselves back into this tournament.
Chris Woakes played for the first time in the previous game and he just gave them another top level bowling option which meant that the Phoenix could keep the pressure on the opposing batters for longer. That is important because we know that Birmingham have a fearsome batting unit, one or two of whom are beginning to show signs of just getting going too. A win for Birmingham here will have them forgetting that terrible start but defeat could well end their campaign.
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Key Players
Tymal Mills might have had the best figures in the previous win over Welsh Fire but it is was Craig Overton who set the tone with the ball with 13 dot balls from the 20 he sent down with two wickets to his name. If he can rip out a couple of the Phoenix batters at the top the Brave would be in a good position.
Chris Woakes showed us why England keep calling upon him in one-day cricket with a wonderful new ball spell in the win over the Oval Invincibles. Woakes is enjoying a fine summer and will hope that continues here.
Betting
The Birmingham Phoenix made some changes to their side for the match against the Oval Invincibles and they immediately looked better for it and as long as Jamie Smith is fine to go again I see no reason why they can’t follow up that win here against a Southern Brave who are beginning to struggle with injuries and who have a very light batting unit, a few of who look to be in no form at all. The Smith possible injury is a concern but they still have the likes of Miles Hammond and Jacob Bethell who could come in and fill his spot and move the likes of Moeen or Liam Livingstone up the order.
The big thing for me for the Phoenix is how better balanced they looked with the ball. With Chris Woakes keeping the top order quiet and Adam Milne and Kane Richardson going searching for poles it meant that teams had to go after Benny Howell and in the last five years or so that is a philosophy that has little positive upside to it. With plenty of spin options which means one bowler can’t just be targeted, Birmingham suddenly look better balanced and at even money with their tournament on the line I’ll side with them in this one.
Tips
Back Birmingham Phoenix to beat Southern Brave for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
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