The second set of matches get underway in The Hundred on Saturday and we head to Lord’s for the first time in the 2024 season as the London Spirit take on the Birmingham Phoenix in what is already a key game for both sides.
Both teams lost their first match and they won’t want to go through the opening quarter of their campaign without a win. They were well beaten in their season starters too so another defeat would leave them with plenty of work to do.
Where to watch
The match will be shown on a trio of Sky Sports channels with it being on Main Event, Cricket and Mix with the build-up beginning on the latter at 6pm ahead of the first ball at 6.35pm.
London Spirit
The London Spirit were well beaten in their opening match by the Southern Brave but I don’t think they need to be too despondent at the minute because there is every chance that the Brave could be the best team in the competition this season so that might have been a good game for the Spirit to get out of the way. They were away from home in that match as well so in many ways they can programme themselves to think that their season starts here.
Going into the competition the Spirit always looked like they would be a work in progress with their two England players away for the opening two matches but actually their batting went well enough against the Brave but with the ball they were found wanting in a big way. That always looked the weakest part of their game and they will be looking for the likes of Andre Russell and Dan Worrall to come to the party to assist the bowlers who did go well.
Birmingham Phoenix
It might be that the Birmingham Phoenix, who were demolished in their first game, played the other decent team in this competition away from home in the form of the defending champions Oval Invincibles. The Phoenix were a little more architects of their own downfall in their match though and that seemed be recognised by Liam Livingstone in the BBC coverage as he had the mic in the field so you would be surprised if they don’t rectify that.
One positive for the Phoenix was their new ball bowling attack looked full of pace and swing and a bit of spite so if they can put runs up on the board, and even though they are missing a couple of players who are still on England duty you would think they have the personnel to do that, then they could leave their double header in the capital with a win to set them up for the remainder of the campaign. They do need to bat much better here for that to happen though.
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Key Players
Dan Lawrence led by example in the opening match when he rescued a poor start with the bat with a solid, if a little unspectacular, 38 from 30 balls and then took a wicket and went for just 13 from the 10 balls he bowled. Similar will be needed for the Spirit here.
Tim Southee bowled an excellent 20 ball spell in the opening match against the Oval Invincibles in what was really the only positive for the Birmingham Phoenix in that contest. If he can take some new ball wickets here he’ll have his side in the game.
Betting
I’d like to see these two in action against each other to assess where they are at before I put too much money down on them but there is a main bet that I like the look of here. That comes in the form of the performance of Ravi Bopara who has played loads of cricket at Lord’s in his career and will know all about conditions both when he is batting and when he is bowling. He scored 27 points in that tame loss to the Southern Brave so I’m a little surprised that he has a performance line of only 26.5 points here. He is quite capable of taking a couple of wickets with his canny medium pace but he is also hitting the ball well at the minute and has been in good touch for Northamptonshire this summer. This feels like a gettable line for the veteran to me.
I’ll also take a punt on the 16/1 that Andre Russell top scores for the London Spirit in this match. There wasn’t much in the way of form in the top order for the Spirit down in Southampton and if Birmingham utilise the new ball here like they did at The Oval on Tuesday then there is every chance that someone down the order will top score. Russell should have had enough time to acclimatise to the UK after his flight from America and we know that Lord’s isn’t big enough to contain him. It was Jofra Archer who got the better of him in the first game but there’s no Archer on show here and this Birmingham attack can definitely go the distance at the back end of the innings. Prior to arriving here, Russell clobbered 35 off 21 in his last Major League Cricket so he’s in decent nick and looks a huge price at 16/1 with the way the London innings could play out.
Tips
Back R.Bopara’s Performance – Over 26.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
Back him here:
Back A.Russell Top London Spirit Batter for a 1/10 stake at 17.00 with BetVictor
