The second quarter final of the Metro Bank One Day Cup will be played out on Sunday when for the second time this season Hampshire host Worcestershire in a white ball knockout clash at the Ageas Bowl.
A trip to Warwickshire awaits the winners of the tie in the semi-final. Hampshire won the Vitality Blast quarter final between these two and they will hope to repeat that win. Worcestershire are out for revenge. This match clashes with The Hundred finals so it is the Hampshire stream you need if you want to watch.
Hampshire
When you lost the amount of players that Hampshire have to The Hundred, the initial aim for them in this tournament was to hang tough and make it through to the latter stages where they have the choice of those returning stars to choose from should they so wish. I suspect had Hampshire have won the Vitality Blast when they got to finals day then they would have trusted the players who got them through to this quarter final, however in Rob Bransgrove’s final season as chairman they would love to send the man who has done so much for the club off with a trophy.
That has been reflected in the squad Hampshire have named where three players returning from The Hundred have been included. Hampshire won seven of their group matches without those players so the fact that they are stronger with their inclusion is likely to make them very tough to beat. The home side should be stronger with the ball with three key bowlers back so they are entitled to be tough to beat here.
Worcestershire
The first thing that Worcestershire need to do is ensure there are no memories of the Vitality Blast lingering in their minds when they step onto the park for this one because they just didn’t turn up at all on that evening. They have battled hard to reach a second quarter final on the season and now they will be wanting to make the most of the opportunity in front of them, particularly with a derby clash awaiting them if they can come out on top.
Worcestershire do not have any players back from The Hundred for this match so they will be going in with those who got them to this position. In the main it has been the Worcestershire bowling unit which has served them well and you would imagine they will need some early wickets if they are going to be competitive in this match. Given how heavily they lost here in the Vitality Blast earlier in the season, if Hampshire get away from Worcestershire they could be hard to reel in.
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Key Players
Nick Gubbins averages 60 with the bat for Hampshire in this competition this season and if he can see off the new ball and start to move through the gears the captain in the absence of James Vince is likely to have his team well on the way to victory.
Jake Libby has more than 300 runs in the competition for Worcestershire this term at almost a run a ball and if the Rapids are going to leave Southampton still in the tournament you sense a big innings from him will be needed.
Betting
We are going to need to dodge some showers throughout the course of the day judging by the weather forecast but hopefully we still get a full game in. With all the condition changes though I think this is a match where the bowlers will have the edge on the batters, especially when you think back to a couple of matches in The Hundred where the pitches played quite tough. We have to remember Hampshire only knew they were hosting this match on Tuesday so they haven’t had much time to prepare a completely fresh pitch.
With that in mind, I think the run line of 549.5 runs could be a little on the high side. Hampshire played three matches in this competition on this ground but haven’t played here for two weeks but the two matches in The Hundred since then were both low scoring. Hampshire don’t have the deepest batting unit in this competition and both bowling attacks are well balanced and aren’t really missing anyone they would be expecting to have. I like the under on that line.
Tips
Back Under 549.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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