Two teams with their eyes on the prize meet in The Hundred on Tuesday evening when the Oval Invincibles and the Birmingham Phoenix do battle at The Oval with each looking to bounce back from a defeat last time out and get their challenge back on track.
Both these teams have three wins from their five matches so whoever wins here will put themselves in with a strong chance of making the top three while the losers will probably need to win their last two in order to force their way in.
Oval Invincibles
The Oval Invincibles looked like they were building some good confidence in the tournament but that came to a bit of a halt with a defeat last time out. To be fair to them, their only two losses in the competition have been against the teams occupying the top two spots in the table so they are not terrible results but the concern is the poor form of a number of players would catch them out and it did at Trent Bridge.
Oval are generally good at home although they did put in a stinker of a performance against the London Spirit here right at the start of the tournament. Their batting is beginning to look a little light unless Rilee Rossouw is fit to play because Jason Roy doesn’t look like turning his form around and a couple of the others in the top order are light on runs too. Against the Rockets last time out their bowlers were found wanting as well and that is the last thing they need.
Birmingham Phoenix
After a dismal loss in their opening match away to the Trent Rockets, Birmingham Phoenix had won three on the spin but then came a loss to the Northern Superchargers out of absolutely nowhere. They bowled badly on that occasion and got caught in the full force of a blitz from the men in the Pop Chips kit. That was a surprise because the Phoenix usually have the ability to bring things back in the middle balls but what was more of a surprise was their shambles of a batting effort.
Birmingham have one of the most powerful batting units in the competition but there is a feeling that Liam Livingstone and his ego can be his undoing and he tries to smack too many balls out of the park rather than giving them the respect they deserve and putting the bad ball away. The Phoenix will need him to be smart here because he certainly has the ability to catch up. Birmingham will know an all-round improvement will be needed here.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account to get up to £25 in free bets! Perfect offer for this league! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Key Players
We don’t know if Rilee Rossouw has recovered from the injury which kept him out of the defeat to the Trent Rockets but even if he has Will Jacks will be the wicket the Phoenix want cheaply. If they can get that they’ll immediately feel ahead of the game.
I’ve said it a number of times but I always think the dimensions of The Oval suits left-handers these days with the corner cut off down by the groundsman’s shed. Moeen Ali doesn’t need corners cut off but he could go very big here as a result. His off spin will come in handy too.
Betting
I was a little surprised to see the odds so heavily in the favour of the Oval Invincibles for this match. I mentioned in the previous game that I feared for them a little if Will Jacks got out cheaply and he did and they were duly beaten and the same sentiment applies here too. With the exception of Sunil Narine, the Invincibles don’t really have a bowler they can rely on as a banker and that might also spell trouble because Birmingham Phoenix have the players to take care of Narine.
They took him for 41 in the meeting between the two sides last season and if Narine can’t dry up the run rate here then you do worry for Oval with so many batters scratching around for form. Birmingham were a mess in their last match but usually when a team delivers a performance that bad it is a wake up call to put it right in the next one. We’ve seen at The Oval that bowlers who take the pace off tend to be of most use these days and in three spinners and Benny Howell, the Phoenix certainly have that base covered. I think the visitors are a shade too big here.
Tips
Back Birmingham Phoenix to beat Oval Invincibles for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with William Hill
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
