While the 3rd Test looks like drawing to an end on Friday, the Royal London One Day Cup hots up and there are six more matches throughout the day which are likely to have major bearings on the race for the last eight in the 50 over competition.
Thursday saw wins for Yorkshire, Kent and Nottinghamshire. Kent won very easily against a Hampshire side who seemed to shoot themselves in the foot. Nottinghamshire powered their way past Sussex while Worcestershire were hit by a Glenn Maxwell blitz and couldn’t recover from it.
Matches begin in the morning and the afternoon on a busy Friday. There are three matches starting at 10.30 which are Durham vs Surrey, Leicestershire vs Gloucestershire and Somerset vs Worcestershire while Middlesex vs Kent starts an hour later. Afternoon starts come in the Glamorgan vs Essex game and the one between Derbyshire and Northamptonshire.
Worcestershire’s defeat meant it was a losing day for me on Thursday but I’m hoping to get back to winning ways on Friday where I’m taking a few bets over the course of what is a busy day heading into the weekend.
My first bet is going to be on the defending champions Durham. They did me a good turn at Taunton on Wednesday and I’m backing them again against Surrey. Surrey only won two of their seven matches on the road in the T20 competition and one of them was at Glamorgan which I’m not convinced is much of a form guide so they could be vulnerable on the road.
Durham have picked up wins away to Northamptonshire and Somerset so far this week and now they return home looking for a hat-trick of wins. Their top six have all got runs in the competition with the exception of Graham Clark but he came into the event with a good knock in the Championship and Durham’s bowling attack is always competitive in their own conditions and I’m sure they will be here even without Graham Onions who is away helping England u19s prepare.
I haven’t been convinced by Surrey’s batting depth all season but it is their bowling depth that worries me more here, especially on this ground where their spinners are unlikely to get conditions that suit like they do at The Oval. Maybe that is why their road record is so weak. Durham are going well wherever they play and I fancy them here.
Another side I really like are Essex. There has been a bit of banter between the Essex and Glamorgan twitter feeds over the last few days after they were competing for the last quarter final place in the NatWest T20 Blast this time last week.
I don’t see that having an impact on the match though and in truth I expect Essex to be far too good for Glamorgan here. Essex gave Glamorgan a sizable beating in the Championship recently and they eased to a double over them in the T20 and if anything their batting quality is even more suited to this competition.
We saw Glamorgan bat well in their last match against Kent but even then they needed a miracle to get home. Luckily for them the rain came at the right time to assist them but all things being equal here I’m not so convinced they will compete. Graham Wagg is back which probably helps but Essex have taken Lancashire and Warwickshire to the cleaners this week and Glamorgan could well go the same way.
I took Worcestershire to beat Yorkshire on Thursday which didn’t go too well but I’m going to chance them again away to Somerset. The Rapids ran into Glenn Maxwell on Thursday and paid the price but I’m not convinced there is a Glenn Maxwell in this Somerset side.
In fact Somerset have batted very poorly in one day cricket this year but that isn’t a surprise with the likes of Craig Kieswetter and Jos Buttler no longer around. Their bowling has also leaked runs all season and Durham were the latest side to tuck into the buffet on offer so unless they improve in both departments they are there for the taking here.
Worcestershire didn’t do a whole lot wrong against Yorkshire but their coach said afterwards that they were rusty and will come on for the run. Jack Shantry returns to the side here and he along with Saeed Ajmal will help keep things tight and with the batting Worcestershire have enough I think they are worth keeping faith with here.
In the other matches I expect Northants to beat Derbyshire although Alex Wakely’s injury has put me off them from a betting point of view. I kind of fancy Kent to come past Middlesex but I’m not a massive fan of betting on matches at club grounds and I’m on Kent outright anyway so there’s no need to back them here and the Leicestershire vs Gloucestershire game could go either way. I’ll leave them alone and take the other three.
Back Durham to beat Surrey for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back Worcestershire to beat Somerset for a 3/10 stake at 2.20 with Coral
Back Essex to beat Glamorgan for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Stan James
Cricket YTD = -14.96
