There is one more match in the International League T20 on Tuesday with the ILT20 back in Sharjah for the clash between the Sharjah Warriors and the team currently on top of the table in the form of the Desert Vipers.
The Warriors are clinging onto a top four spot at the minute but a win here will do their hopes of reaching the latter stages the world of good. The Vipers will remain in control of their destiny as they chase a top two spot if they come out on top here.
Sharjah Warriors
After what was a disastrous start to the season for the Sharjah Warriors, they are suddenly one of the form teams in the competition. That in itself isn’t necessarily a surprise but where things are a little strange is they were poor with their England internationals and have found form since they left for international duty. You would have expected that to be the other way around. This is their last game without those players so they will be hoping to find a fourth win in seven completed games for when they return.
The Warriors deserve a lot of credit. Sometimes teams can be in bad form because of one side of the ball which is easy enough to fix and then go on a decent run. That wasn’t the case with Sharjah. They were stinking it out with the bat and the ball but in this turnaround they have started batting much better as a unit and in turn the bowling has responded to that and they are beginning to look like the dark horse side I thought they could be before the season started.
Desert Vipers
The Desert Vipers lead the way in the ILT20 table going into this match but they head into it off the back of one of the biggest beatings there has been in franchise cricket. They were smashed by 157 runs by the MI Emirates on this very ground so they probably won’t be looking forward to a return to Sharjah. There was a mitigating circumstance around that loss though as they put a lot into winning the day prior to that contest and I repeatedly suggest backing up a performance the next day is never easy.
The other circumstance that needs to be remembered is the Vipers were without a couple of key bowlers in Sheldon Cottrell and Wanindu Hasaranga and they will definitely be hoping that one or both of those are back. The batting for the Vipers is suddenly feeling a little strain. That might be a legacy of Alex Hales going so well in the first half of the campaign and he was never going to be able to keep up that level of form forever.
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Key Players
Tom Kohler-Cadmore is the fourth highest run scorer in the competition and he has already smashed a century in it. If he can go big again then you would imagine he will have Sharjah nicely placed to pull off a surprise win.
Alex Hales is the top run scorer in the tournament but he has failed in his last two innings and will be looking to get back to big scoring ways here. If he can get himself in then we know this ground definitely isn’t big enough to contain him.
Betting
I like the boundaries here. If I’m honest I should be looking at the sixes but after the shambles way that I lost in that market when the Desert Vipers played here at the weekend I don’t trust it again and am much more comfortable taking the boundaries. One of the reasons for that actually is because there are a couple of batters in the Sharjah Warriors who aren’t the biggest hitters but can still find the boundary so it might be the safer bet for all sorts of reasons.
The boundaries line for his match is 36.5. We know the boundaries here in Sharjah are very much on the tiny side and we saw that in the last match on this ground when the first innings had 34 boundaries in it. That showed that the pitch is playing lovely in Sharjah which isn’t always the case. These two teams have plenty of batters who can find the ropes and we’re in that situation, particularly for the Warriors, where run rates are a thing so if there is a chance to boost it they will take it. Over 36.5 boundaries is the one for me.
Tips
Back Over 36.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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