The Southern Brave women’s team got their hands on The Hundred trophy last season and the men will be intent on getting it back this term too after being the inaugural winners of the competition. Things haven’t always gone great for the Southampton outfit since they won the event but they look to have put a very good squad together for a real tilt at a title which is gathering in profile these days.
Stats
Last Season: 3rd
Captain: James Vince
Key Players: James Vince & Jofra Archer
Best Odds: 7/1 General
Fixtures
Jul 24: London Spirit (h)
Jul 30: Northern Superchargers (a)
Aug 1: Manchester Originals (h)
Aug 3: Birmingham Phoenix (a)
Aug 5: Welsh Fire (a)
Aug 8: Oval Invincibles (a)
Aug 10: Trent Rockets (h)
Aug 14: Welsh Fire (h)
Squad
Jofra Archer, Kieron Pollard, James Vince, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Laurie Evans, Leus du Plooy, Akeal Hosein, Rehan Ahmed, Craig Overton, Finn Allen, Danny Briggs, George Garton, Alex Davies, James Coles, Joe Weatherley
Preview
Southern Brave have been one of the better teams in the competition over the three seasons that it has been in operation with both the men and the women already having tasted success. The men’s team have been successful following on from the success of Hampshire in the Vitality Blast and so it will be interesting to see if the positive moves that Sussex have made in that competition will inspire another decent tilt at this trophy with Hampshire having had a bad campaign. There are not only two Hampshire players in this squad interestingly.
Southern Brave look to have improved over the draft with the likes of Kieron Pollard and Akeal Hosein bringing Caribbean flair and quality to Southampton with them while the return to these parts of Danny Briggs, the leading wicket taker in the Vitality Blast this term ensures another top class spin option is around. With Jofra Archer expected to be fit for some matches too it would be a huge surprise if the Brave don’t go well in this campaign.
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Betting
The Southern Brave batting market is another that I was looking to find some value in with Finn Allen not around for the opening game or two and the likes of Devon Conway no longer with them while the weird harassment issue that James Vince has opened up about makes me wonder if he’ll play all the matches too which makes me wonder if Laurie Evans could be some value at around the 7/2 mark. He hasn’t had a brilliant campaign for Surrey in the Vitality Blast but he is likely to play all of the matches here and should bat in the top three unless something weird happens. Evans has moved from Manchester to the Southern Brave this season and is now a white ball specialist. He has done the Caribbean Premier League and Big Bash Leagues with good effect and feels a big price with question marks over some in this Brave batting unit.
With the ball I would be all over Tymal Mills who I think is having a brilliant season and who I really like as a bowler. The beauty of Mills is that when he does his TV work he opens up so much about how he goes about things and what bowlers are thinking and we don’t usually get that insight as most of the pundits on TV are former batters. When you hear Mills speak you understand why he is going so well but having backed him to be the leading bowler in the tournament I don’t need to back him here.
Tips
Back L.Evans Top Southern Brave Tournament Batter for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Bet365
