The Ram Slam T20 has gone along at quite a pace in recent days and on Sunday we have two more matches in the South African franchise competition.
For sides like the Cape Cobras and the Lions, Sunday is a massive day. It looks like the Titans are away and gone now so those two sides are under pressure to pick up wins to make the semi-final.
The Cobras host the Knights in Paarl in the first of the two matches. We saw the defending champions wiped out by the Titans on Friday night. We shouldn’t necessarily hold that against them but it is clear they are going to need to put that behind them quickly and bounce back here.
They won’t have a better chance to do that though. The Knights are yet to win a match and have found all sorts of ways of losing from winning positions so far in the competition.
It looked like the Knights would win the first match between these two this season but then Rory Kleinveldt came in when all was lost and smoked it to all parts and suddenly the Cobras couldn’t lose. They’ll want to win more convincingly here to justify their short odds.
I would expect the Cobras to win the match but I’m not interested in backing a side who have been beaten much more comfortably than the scoreline suggested last time out at such a skinny price.
The second match of the day is actually the TV match which sees the Lions hosting the Dolphins in the Bullring at Johannesburg.
The Lions have been very hit and miss in this tournament so far which is unlike them. They will need to find a strong patch of consistency from here on in if they are to make it to the finals.
The Dolphins flew out of the traps this season but have been found out in their last two matches. Whether that is because they’ve lost Kevin Pietersen or whether their bowling attack is to blame only time will tell but they could do with a slump ending win of their own.
Two sides who aren’t in the greatest form meet here and in truth it is hard to get a real feel for either of them. I guess home advantage matters on this of all grounds but then on the same page it is impossible to defend this ground so you probably want to be batting second.
In the end I’ve decided to leave the match betting alone and focus on the sixes. This ground is at altitude so the ball flies a lot further here than in some places so I’m expecting to see plenty of big hits and the ropes cleared frequently.
The current line is 9.5 which looks a little low to me especially as the Dolphins’ attack has been getting carted in recent times. I expect to see at least 10 sixes here and quite possibly a few more especially if someone like David Miller gets going.
Back Lions vs Dolphins – Over 9.5 sixes for a 5/10 stake at 1.95 with Betway
Blog cricket YTD: +27.27pts
