The final set of group matches in The Hundred begins on Monday evening when the Oval Invincibles take on the Trent Rockets in what is a massive match for the defending champions in particular at The Oval.
Oval go into this match knowing that if they win it they will head straight through to the final but they leave the door open if they lose it. Trent Rockets will have a very nervy few days if they are beaten in this match.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live on the Sky Cricket and Sky Mix channels with the build-up to this one beginning at 6pm ahead of the 6.30 start time.
Oval Invincibles
Oval Invincibles have looked like the team to beat for much of this competition and as the pressure ramps up over the final week of the tournament they will hope that they can maintain their quality. They have become something of a reliable side in tight matches, as evidenced in their last two matches where they have got home by two runs and nine runs respectively. Earlier in the season they had a tie which they rescued from nowhere and a match they won off the second to last ball.
When Oval bat well they have the potential to blow sides away and they have done that on a couple occasions. What I have liked about Oval this season is regardless how they have batted and despite rotating their bowling on a few occasions, they have been able to hold their nerve with the ball. Sometimes they have needed some exceptional fielding to complement that bowling but that only makes them harder to beat.
Trent Rockets
The defending champions Trent Rockets would have been looking for a much more serene defence of their title than they have managed to embark on to date. The Rockets still haven’t won successive matches this season and that is the achievement they will be looking to secure in this outing. If they do it there is every chance they reach the knockout stages. If they don’t then their season is probably going to be over so there is plenty at stake here.
We still haven’t seen anything at all resembling good form from the Trent Rockets openers regardless of who it is they have used in that position and this team is crying out for a platform to be laid because their players from four down are all in decent form and would really be able to propel them to an acceptable total. The longer the tournament has gone on though the Rockets have got better with the ball and that bodes well.
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Key Players
Will Jacks is becoming as important with the ball for Oval Invincibles since Sunil Narine left as he is with the bat and with the good weather continuing in the UK throughout Monday he should be a key factor with bat and ball here.
Daniel Sams clobbered 20 from 12 balls and then took three wickets from his 20 balls in the emphatic win over the Birmingham Phoenix last time out and you sense if the Trent Rockets are going to win this one he will need a similar level of performance.
Betting
The pressure is on both teams in this match which puts me off getting too involved in the outcome of it so I am going to side with one of the key players from above and take Will Jacks to cover his player performance total, which it has to be said looks pretty low at 28.5 when you consider that this is not just his home ground in The Hundred but also for his county so he will know how this pitch plays both when he is batting and when he is bowling too.
Jacks has covered this total with the bat alone in three of the last five matches in total but since Narine left he has bowled more and picked up a wicket in the last two games. He took two wickets in the last match here against the London Spirit and another last time out against the Southern Brave. He generally fields in the key positions as well so there is every chance that a catch could come his way and so with three genuine scoring methods I think this line is way too low. I’ll play the over.
Tips
Back W.Jacks’ Performance – Over 28.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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