There is one spot remaining at the Vitality Blast finals day and it will be filled on Friday evening when the Birmingham Bears look to progress to their own party when they go up against Gloucestershire at Edgbaston.
The Bears were the best team in the North Group but have won that section before and failed to make finals day so they will be looking to make no mistake this time around. Gloucestershire were the last team into the quarter final and will want to make the most of it.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Cricket channel with the build-up beginning after the play in the Test match around 6.45pm ahead of the first ball at 7pm.
Birmingham Bears
The Birmingham Bears won 10 of their 14 group matches to safely finish on top of a North Group which they were at the summit of for the majority of the competition. They generally do dominate the North Group but when they come up against someone in knockout cricket it doesn’t seem to work out for them but there appears to be more depth in the key areas in this side now with the Birmingham Phoenix having given promising campaigns to a couple of youngsters.
Should the Bears win this they are going to be heavily impacted on finals day but this is all about getting there and you would think they certainly have the firepower with the bat to get them through and if Danny Briggs can continue his fine campaign with the ball then there should be enough with the bowling ranks to progress through to the next stage. The depth of this side was helped by a good run in the Metro Bank One Day Cup so confidence will be high.
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire will be looking to reach finals day for the first time since 2020 and just the second time since 2007 and when you consider the pedigree that they have as a one day unit, that lack of success is something they will be wanting to put right here. They have never won this competition but they know that having sneaked into the quarter finals when Essex failed to win their last group match, they are just three wins away from lifting the trophy for the first time.
By and large, Gloucestershire have batted well in the competition but there is no Beau Webster for the knockout stages so someone is going to need to step up and be counted in his absence. Where the Gloucestershire outfit will be strong is with the ball. David Payne has been one of the best bowlers in the competition and he has enough of a support cast to make things tough for Birmingham, but they are going to have to bowl well to have any chance in this quarter final.
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Key Players
Moeen Ali reminded everyone of his class when he made a gorgeous hundred in the last group game against Leicestershire and having batted well on this ground in The Hundred, the Bears captain will be looking to lead his side to finals day.
Only Danny Briggs has more wickets in this competition this season than David Payne and you would think if Gloucestershire are going to have any chance in this match the seamer has to disrupt the Birmingham batting unit with the new ball.
Betting
Edgbaston is usually the home of high scoring matches and with the groundstaff here having known that they have had this match for the better part of six weeks I expect a decent track for this contest. Birmingham Bears want that because the power in their batting is very much their strength so they won’t be wanting tacky pitches or anything like that. We should remember that finals day is on this ground in just eight days and that usually takes place in the centre of the square to accommodate a full house so we might well be to one side here.
That will open up a short boundary to one side, although since the new pavilion has gone in at Edgbaston there is always a straight boundary which is on the short side. Both these teams have batting depth which allows them to go hard at the top of the innings and while there is some spin on show in these two sides there is no mystery attached to it with the exception of Jake Lintott and he has been around the circuit enough now for his skills to be apparent. I like over 39.5 boundaries here.
Tips
Back Over 39.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
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