The second part of a decent looking double header in The Hundred on Thursday comes from the Utilita Bowl as the Southern Brave play their third match of the campaign when they welcome the Manchester Originals to Southampton.
The Brave have a win and a loss on their ledger after a couple of matches while the Originals have two defeats so immediately this is a much bigger match for them than the inaugural champions but both will be out for a win here.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket channels with the build-up to this one beginning at 6pm ahead of the first ball at 6.30pm.
Southern Brave
The first winners of this tournament looked like they had set a marker down for a repeat of their title winning campaign when they destroyed the London Spirit in their opening one but just when they had a chance to really steal a march on a number of sides they went to the Northern Superchargers earlier in the week and came unstuck. That was a road game though and home form is what really counts in this competition so a win here will have them on track.
The big surprise in the defeat to the Superchargers is that their bowling went around the park in the manner that it did. That bowling unit looks like the best in the competition on paper and they will be looking to get back on track here. The Brave are expected to have Finn Allen joining up with the squad sometime soon and if he can bring the form he had at the Major League Cricket competition with him then that should ensure the Brave batting is in good touch.
Manchester Originals
This is starting to turn into a season to forget for the Manchester Originals and they desperately need to turn things around here. They have lost their opening two matches and if they lose here too then they are going to need to win their last five outings to have any chance of making it into the knockout stages of the competition. Their net run rate took a massive beating in the first game though so even that might not be enough so a win here is pivotal.
We can probably excuse the Originals the loss in the first game because the news of the Jos Buttler injury broke pretty late in the day and they wouldn’t have had much time to draw up a new plan but the second one was a loss which could come back to haunt them. They had the Trent Rockets beat in that match but somehow snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and really need someone in their batting order to come to the party else this season will get right away from them.
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Key Players
In among all the carnage that the Southern Brave bowlers were subjected to Jofra Archer bowled 20 balls and went for just 19 runs. If the England man can get rid of his teammate for his country in Phil Salt early he could set the match up for the Brave.
Sikandar Raza took two wickets and clubbed 21 in no time against the Trent Rockets last time out but it still wasn’t enough for the Manchester Originals to get over the line. They will be looking for their overseas player to deliver once again here.
Betting
I’m not a massive fan of backing handicaps in shorter matches because technically the shorter the game the closer the outcome should be but I do think there is a decent enough gulf between these two teams and certainly a bigger one than a 3.5 wickets or 9.5 runs handicap would suggest. I look at these sides and I just see the Southern Brave as much the better team of the two with the bat and with the ball here and when you throw in home advantage it is hard to oppose them.
The Manchester Originals do bat deep but there are a shortage of genuine out and out batters in their side and if the Southern Brave new ball bowlers do the damage that they are capable of then that is going to be a problem. The other issue that the Originals have is that they are largely a spin heavy team with the ball and even though the heat has been strong in this part of the world, if the wicket doesn’t turn the Originals are in trouble and even if it does then Akeal Hosein and Rehan Ahmed are likely to cause problems. The Brave look a good deal better than the Originals and can cover this handicap.
Tips
Back Southern Brave (-3.5wickets/9.5runs) to beat Manchester Originals for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
