The final set of group matches in the inaugural The Hundred competition begin on Sunday evening when the Trent Rockets play host to the Manchester Originals at Trent Bridge in what is a huge match for both sides.
This is effectively a knockout for the pair of them. The Rockets know a win will put them into the knockout stages while the Originals head into the game not just having to win to have a chance to progress but win by a sizeable margin.
Trent Rockets
The Trent Rockets looked the real deal when they started the tournament with three successive wins but three defeats in their next four have left their participation in the latter stage of the competition in a little bit of doubt. What really would have knocked them back was a home defeat last time out. Much like Nottinghamshire in the Vitality Blast, you expected the Trent Rockets to be very hard to beat at Trent Bridge so dropping that match on Friday night didn’t help them.
In those three defeats, their bowlers have gone round the park a little. There are mitigating circumstances in those losses though. The one at The Oval was a 65 ball game where they were on the wrong end of the conditions and the other two were to the Birmingham Phoenix who look a class above everything in the tournament. Even so, they will be hoping their bowlers can tighten up just a little here. If they do we’ve seen they have the batting mite to get the job done.
Manchester Originals
It has all gone wrong at the worst time for the Manchester Originals. They had navigated themselves into a position to strike for the top three but when it came to making the move they have been found wanting. They dropped one to the field with a defeat to the London Spirit in a match which they tossed away and then they produced one of the worst fielding performances you could ever see to lose to the Northern Superchargers in their latest match.
That loss wasn’t just bad because of the fielding effort but because their run rate took an absolute battering so they can’t just win this match to move into the top three, they have to go bonkers in the process which makes things a whole lot more difficult. The big problem they have in general is being a batsman light but if they field like they did at Headingley last time out then they would have absolutely no chance of winning anyway. They have to support their bowlers a lot more.
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Key Men
Samit Patel isn’t really being spoken about in this tournament but as the pitches tired he was always going to come into his own somewhat. His spin is usually very economical and now he is batting with intent and intensity so he looks set to deliver a big performance for the Trent Rockets.
Carlos Brathwaite needs to set the tone for the Manchester Originals both on and off the field here. He can’t allow the poor fielding to creep into their play but if he can bowl like he did for Birmingham in the Blast and crack a few big hits away then the Originals wouldn’t be without a chance here.
Betting
I’m not a massive fan of betting on these matches where one side isn’t just playing to win but to win big but I do think that dynamic gives us the potential for a lot of boundaries in this match. You would think they would flow anyway when you consider that the batsmen that are in this Manchester outfit are all aggressive ones, not least Joe Clarke who is on his home ground here. The Trent Rockets don’t lack for batsmen who like to go after the bowling either.
I would imagine the Rockets will end up batting first in this match because it is much easier to bump up your net run rate when chasing a score than it is when setting one so the Originals will want to chase and the Rockets will probably want to set a score and get it on the board and then defend it knowing the risks Manchester will have to take. That means we can see the pattern of play and I expect the boundaries to be peppered as a result. I’ll go with over 35.5 boundaries here.
Tips
Back Over 35.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.73 with William Hill
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