The Hundred continues on Thursday night and it does so with a battle between two teams who know there is no room for another loss on their ledger if they want to remain a competitive force in the competition.
Southern Brave play host to the Manchester Originals with both teams having suffered three defeats in their opening four matches and with just eight games in total, a fourth loss for either here will be fatal for their campaign.
Southern Brave
When the Southern Brave started the season with an emphatic demolition of the Welsh Fire in their opening match, there was a sense that the reigning champions were hitting the ground running and would be very tough to beat throughout the campaign. It certainly hasn’t panned out that way since then though as they have played three further matches and lost them all, barely being a competitive feature in any of them.
A number of players the Brave need to be in form are not and that has left them scratching around looking to find a performance. The longer the competition has gone on the more they have picked up injuries with the ball and all of a sudden the title defence of the Southern Brave is unravelling. If they are going to turn it around then it is imperative that some batters find form, especially those at the top of the order, to allow for their weakening bowling resources.
Manchester Originals
After three defeats to open up the tournament, the Manchester Originals gave themselves a lifeline in their fourth match when they overwhelmed the Welsh Fire and now they will be looking to build on that and make a late dash for the top three. They know if they are going to have any chance of extending their season then they have to win out from here. That isn’t going to be easy though because three of their last four are away from home with Old Trafford hosting the Test next week.
The big thing against the Fire was that the Originals bowling attack turned up and was counted. They haven’t had a problem with the bat throughout the competition with the exception of the match at London Spirit where their run chase was very strange. It had been their bowling which had let them down in their opening three matches. They will need to make sure that bowling effort against the Welsh Fire wasn’t just a flash in the pan.
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
James Vince is going to need all of his tactical fortitude to get over the Southern Brave over the line in this match with so many main bowlers out. He can ease the situation if he fills his boots on his home ground with the bat in hand.
Jos Buttler is the man capable of taking advantage of the light look to the Brave bowling unit. If he gets going and puts the pressure on the senior bowlers that are left then the less experienced ones could go the distance too.
Betting
I think the Manchester Originals look in a better shape of these two sides to me and as such I’m happy to back them at even money to win this one. I thought they would go well before a ball was bowled in this competition but they couldn’t find anything with the ball in their opening three matches and paid the price. They found it against the Welsh Fire last time out and with the potential for Richard Gleeson to be back soon we might see the Originals firing on all cylinders here.
Southern Brave are having all sorts of problems getting a bowling attack together with Chris Jordan and Tymal Mills out for the rest of the campaign and Craig Overton on international duty but as much of a concern is becoming their batters. Only two of their batters have made a score of 40 in the competition and that is in four matches. Three of the Originals have and then they have Andre Russell and Tristan Stubbs who can do some serious damage down the order. I like the Originals here.
Tips
Back Manchester Originals to beat Southern Brave for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with William Hill
Back them here:
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2022
