The RamSlam T20 has already had some thrilling matches and there are three more games in the competition on Friday as the tournament table begins to take shape.
The Dolphins are the early pace setters after their nail-biting win over the Lions on Wednesday afternoon and if they can pick up a third straight win when they head to Kimberley to take on the Knights then they will be looking very pretty indeed.
The Knights went down in a super over in their opening match but are likely to have their work cut out here. They could do with winning though because this tournament is pretty ruthless when it comes to teams getting cut adrift.
I think the odds are about right in that match and I don’t see the Dolphins losing even allowing for the fact their bowling attack isn’t the best. For that reason though I’ll leave the game alone.
The defending champions Cape Cobras play host to the Warriors in Paarl. The Cobras lost their opening match of the tournament so there is big pressure on them to win this one. The Warriors won that super over in the opening match of the event so a win here will have them in a big position.
Despite the results of these two sides it would be a surprise were the champions to lose this match but they are plenty short enough it has to be said.
One area where they are not too short is to hit the most sixes and as luck would have it that is the bet I like in this match the most. The Warriors are a solid side but they are not blessed with big hitters. Colin Ingram can hit sixes, not because he is a naturally big hitter of the ball but because he is far too good for this level but there aren’t many batting around him who automatically hit big.
In contrast the Cobras have plenty of big hitters. No ground is big enough for Richard Levi and then there is Justin Ontong, Kieron Pollard and Robin Peterson who can all belt a long ball not to mention one or two others. With that comparison between the two sides I like the Cobras for the most sixes here.
The TV match on Friday sees the Highveld Lions looking to bounce back from their defeat in midweek when they host the pre-event favourites the Titans in Potchefstroom.
In fairness the Lions controlled the Dolphins for 36 of the 40 overs but the final four overs of their bowling innings they were blown apart from Kevin Pietersen and as hard as they tried they couldn’t quite claw those overs back.
I think it is fair to say the umpiring did them no favours on Wednesday night and they’ll be hoping they get the smooth end of the stick here but they face a Titans side under big pressure to deliver so the Lions will need to go well.
The Titans were also seen off by the Dolphins last week in a high scoring game but they didn’t do a lot wrong so this should be a great match. I think the Titans are worthy favourites but the match odds are about right.
Once again though one market which might not be right is the most sixes one. We saw the Lions attack absolutely destroyed at the death in their last match and the Titans have some real big hitters to do the same to them in this match.
Quinton de Kock and Henry Davids can go big at the top of the innings but the likes of Ferhaan Behardien, Albie Morkel and Chris Morris can all hit a long ball at the end of it so I fancy the Titans to hit the most sixes.
We saw in the Lions last match that their openers can put away the bad ball but there isn’t a huge hitter apart from Pretorius in the rest of the side so I can’t see them going toe to toe with a side with the quality of the Titans in the six hitting in this match.
Back Cape Cobras to hit most sixes vs Warriors for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
Back Titans to hit most sixes vs Lions for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Paddy Power
Blog cricket YTD: +13.93pts
