The second part of the double header in The Hundred competition on Sunday sees the event heading back to Lord’s for the clash between the London Spirit and the Southern Brave in a contest both teams need to win.
We might not be at the halfway mark of the competition for the London Spirit yet but things are already beginning to look a little bleak for them. The Brave gave themselves a lifeline with a win in their last match and will be looking to follow that up here.
London Spirit
The London Spirit are now the only side in the competition without a win but should they win here they can move readily up the table so all is not lost. You’ve got to think you will need a lot of help if you don’t get five wins so the Spirit might already be in a position whereby they have to win out from here on in. The fact they have had a game rained off might give them some wiggle room but if it does exist there isn’t much of it.
The big problem the Spirit have is their batting just looks way too light for a franchise competition like this. It would be a little light if everyone was in top form but it isn’t even the case that they have everyone in form. They almost got over the line in the previous game courtesy of some impressive captaincy from Eoin Morgan but when push came to shove they were found wanting. Their death bowling looks to be an issue for me as well.
Southern Brave
The Southern Brave went into the tournament as the betting favourites but they looked anything but that in their opening two matches when they were wiped out by the Trent Rockets in their opening match and the Welsh Fire. In truth they were never really in either contest but with the pressure on them in the third game they delivered the goods against the Birmingham Phoenix. It wasn’t the best performance you’ll see from them but now they have a win behind them we should see them improve.
The Brave deserve to be cut a little bit of slack because they haven’t been helped by injuries and people not turning up but they haven’t complained and you sense they’ll go from strength to strength now. If they keep on batting like they did against Birmingham they’ll be tough to beat. They could do with being a little tighter with the ball at the outset of their bowling innings but that would be splitting hairs in many ways.
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Key Men
Given that they have a shortage of batsmen, the London Spirit could do with Ravi Bopara finding some form so that he can help the balance of the side. He is one of few players in this team who can bat high up the order and bowl his 20 balls so it would help if he comes to the party.
Chris Jordan showed all his qualities with the bat to get the Southern Brave over the line on Friday night and you sense he’ll be a big player here as well if they are to win the game. He’s one of the best death bowlers in the country and if he can get stuck in early he might open the game up for the Brave.
Betting
It is hard to go against the Southern Brave here. They bat deeper than the London Spirit and they have the better bowling attack of the two. The other big issue that the Spirit have here is one of their best bowlers in the previous match was Mason Crane but he’ll be bowling to a load of his Hampshire teammates here so his threat might well be nullified. Unless Eoin Morgan has got something up his sleeve I fear for the Spirit here.
Southern Brave can win in a number of ways. They can win a high scoring shootout with the likes of Quinton de Kock or Colin de Grandhomme coming off or they can win a low scorer on a tough wicket with players such as Devon Conway controlling the innings. They can bowl well on turning tracks with Danny Briggs and Jake Lintott and if there is any pace and bounce in the wicket they can take advantage of that too. I just see them having too much for London here.
Tips
Back Southern Brave to beat London Spirit for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfair
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