The Vitality Blast continues on Saturday evening when two more fixtures take place up and down the country on a night where the defending champions get the spotlight to show that they mean business in their title defence.
Of the two matches we have one which is live in front of the TV cameras and then the other one will come with a very good live stream so if you do have a bet on either match then there is a good option to keep up with it. We’ll begin the preview with the TV game.
Hampshire vs Sussex (19.00 – Sky Sports Cricket)
The TV cameras head to the Ageas Bowl for the first ‘El Coastico’ of the season as the defending champions Hampshire play host to Sussex in a local rivalry which could have a big impact in the state of the South Group.
Hampshire go into the match off the back of an absolute demolition job over Essex on Friday night but they now have to overcome the short turnaround and back up a performance. They were the beneficiaries of that on Friday night when Essex were looking to build on their win over Sussex the night before. Sussex were undone by a hat trick from Simon Harmer in that match but in truth they were never really at the races and will be looking for a much better performance in this contest.
I’m not expecting a high scoring match here. If you take James Vince out of the equation, Hampshire haven’t got going with the bat in this tournament yet. Vince has 280 runs in the tournament and no other player in the Hampshire squad for this one has more than 61 in four matches. Hampshire are finding their groove with the ball though and I’m not convinced there is enough out and out top class batting in this Sussex side. Sussex do have an attack which can hold its own though and with the Ageas Bowl being a vast arena I’m not convinced the 334.5 run line will be breached here.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for this competition! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Birmingham Bears vs Nottinghamshire (18.30)
Two sides who lost on Friday night meet in the North Group at Edgbaston on Saturday when the Birmingham Bears take on Nottinghamshire in what has suddenly become an important encounter for both teams.
I think it is fair to say that this one is bigger for Nottinghamshire who have lost their last three matches and really need to arrest that slump with Worcestershire and Birmingham beginning to get away from them and the likes of Durham looking good too. I think the problem Nottinghamshire have is their batting doesn’t look nearly as strong as it has in the past with Dan Christian a thing of the past and Ben Duckett away on England duty. Teams know if they can hang tough they can pull matches back against them. Birmingham were surprisingly beaten by Derbyshire on Friday night but in the main should be happy with their start to the campaign. There have just been one or two signs recently that their batting might not be full of confidence and on a pitch which has been used by the women earlier in the day that might be significant. I’m happy to take a watching brief on this one.
Tips
Back Hampshire vs Sussex – Under 334.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023
