After a largely washed out day in the Royal London One Day Cup the competition continues on Monday as some sides play their second scheduled match of the tournament and others get their campaign underway.
There are five matches slated in the book for Monday but I’m going to ignore the early start from a betting point of view because the forecast in Chester-le-Street is fouler than foul so the Durham vs Worcestershire match gets wiped off my list.
There was meant to be a TV game on Monday but that is no longer the case as the Women’s ODI has gone to a reserve day and rightfully gets the coverage instead. The game was meant to be Derbyshire vs Yorkshire and while we won’t get to see the game the markets that were priced up are still there so we can bet as if it is on TV.
These two sides both managed to get some game time in on Sunday. Derbyshire beat Somerset in a heavily rain reduced match while Yorkshire struggled against Gloucestershire but had the rain save them. Both will have had long journeys to get to Derby for the game and neither will have had much recovery time so in the damp conditions we might not get the best game of cricket here.
For some reason there is a 13.5 sixes line for this match. That looks miles too high to me. There were a couple of 300+ scores put up in this competition at Derby last year and both innings only had three sixes in them so this is not a big six hitting ground but even if it was after a day under covers sweating the wicket isn’t going to come onto the bat as much as the big hitters would like. Neither batting line up is in form and both bowling attacks are probably the strong suit for both sides so I don’t see there being anywhere near 13 sixes at Derby.
Sticking with that match and there is a Bet365 performance line I like. Tim Bresnan has shown plenty of form with the bat in recent weeks. He was part of that record partnership with Jonny Bairstow when he made 169* against Durham last month and we saw him blast a quick half century in the Roses T20 match and he belted another quick 43 against Gloucestershire on Sunday so even though he’s down the order he’s not short of runs.
His bowling probably isn’t good enough for international level anymore but he can still bowl well at this level with the new ball so there is enough there for me to think he’ll cover 40pts. He’s also worth chancing in the Top Yorkshire Batsman market at 25/1 having top scored on Sunday.
Away from the supposed TV game there are matches at the Ageas Bowl, Chelmsford and The Oval where Hampshire take on Sussex, Essex host Lancashire and Surrey go against Northamptonshire.
I like a couple of away sides here. Lancashire look a big price to win at Essex. Both sides have qualified for the quarter finals of the NatWest T20 Blast but they’ve done it in different ways. Essex have been involved in a number of high scoring matches whereas Lancashire have been in low scoring games where their bowlers have been hard to get away. In that competition four regular Lancashire bowlers are going at 7.15 an over or less. In contrast only two of Essex’s main bowlers have been so economical.
Essex have more firepower with the bat but Lancashire are batting well in the longer format this season and that form should transfer to the 50 over competition as well with Ashwell Prince and Alviro Petersen both class acts and Karl Brown, Steven Croft and Paul Horton capable of big runs too. There isn’t a lot in these sides but Lancashire’s extra strength with the ball gives them to edge for me.
At The Oval I’m happy to take Surrey on. They had a wretched T20 campaign which ended with them losing to Middlesex on Thursday night which isn’t a good form guide. I worry about their batting quality after their top three. I worry more for their bowling though without Azhar Mahmood and Matt Dunn, neither of whom are playing here.
When Northants beat Surrey in the T20 final a couple of years ago they smoked Jade Dernbach all over the place and the Steelbacks batting line up will be lining him up again. Northants bat very deep and have enough bowling options to take care of a young and largely inexperienced Surrey side.
In the other match I’m expecting a Hampshire win but their batting is enough to give you kittens if you back them at the minute so at the price I’ll sit back and take bets elsewhere in Monday’s fixture list.
Back Derbyshire vs Yorkshire – Under 13.5 sixes for a 6/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
Back T.Bresnan’s Performance – Over 40pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back T.Bresnan Top Yorkshire Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 26.00 with Coral
Back Lancashire to beat Essex for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Ladbrokes
Back Northamptonshire to beat Surrey for a 4/10 stake at 2.20 with BetVictor
