There is a live quarter final of the Royal London One Day Cup on our screens on Thursday afternoon as Essex entertain Yorkshire for the right to host Gloucestershire in the semi-final of the tournament.
This is a really big game for Essex as it is pretty much all they have left in their season. It is no less big for Yorkshire though. Even though Yorkshire have the Championship to play for they are desperate for a one day honour so with that in mind this is a big day for them too.
Essex host this quarter final by virtue of finishing second in their group. They haven’t always been great in the competition but anyone who finishes second in the group does so on merit so they have to be taken seriously in this match.
Yorkshire were third in their group which was no shame because Surrey and Gloucestershire were comfortably the best sides in that section but with Test players returning to the squad they will head to Chelmsford full of confidence that they can progress from this match.
Essex didn’t have the option of using Alastair Cook in this match which is a surprise given that he won’t play another match for England this summer but they still have a strong batting line up with the likes of Ravi Bopara, Jesse Ryder, Ryan ten Doeschate and Tom Westley amongst others in there. The test will come with the ball so David Masters and Reece Topley will be key.
England’s loss is very much Yorkshire’s gain with regards to Yorkshire having Jonny Bairstow available for this match. Liam Plunkett and Adil Rashid are also available while Adam Lyth has been released from the Test squad early enough for duty as well. Yorkshire will be without an overseas player though with Glenn Maxwell away with Australia and Aaron Finch ineligible.
Chelmsford is a tough place to go at the best of times let alone in a day/night match when there is ample time for the amber nectar to flow and Yorkshire are going to need to be at their best to avoid the abuse the locals often give out to the visitors here.
I’m tempted to take Essex purely because this is their season but I respect Yorkshire even though they’re not at complete full strength. A better bet though would appear to come in the form of boundaries where I’m expecting quite a few.
The forecast suggests we’ll be fine for this match so a shortening of overs is unlikely and you’ve got to think this is going to be a high scoring match on what is a tiny ground. Both batting line ups are stacked with talent and with an absence of a decent spinner in the Essex side there is going to be plenty of pace bowled which can add to the boundary count with sneaky edges, ramps, flicks etc.
All in all a 56.5 line looks quite low and I would expect that to be covered. It is such a low line that even a one sided blowout could see if covered if the side batting first wins with a huge score which can often happen in knockout cricket.
Back Over 56.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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