The second semi-final of the Vitality Blast takes place on what is always the best day of the county cricket season at Edgbaston on Saturday as the former winners Sussex go up against the only team of the four on show yet to win this competition in Gloucestershire.
Sussex head to Edgbaston knowing that they have won both of the meetings with Gloucestershire in the Blast this season and will be eyeing up completing the hat trick. Gloucestershire have already won a knockout match on this ground though and that will give them confidence.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Cricket channel with the build-up to this second semi-final beginning after the mascot derby around 2.15pm ahead of the 2.30pm start.
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire have been to finals day a few times in the past but they haven’t got their hands on this trophy yet and that is something that they will be looking to put right over the course of the day. They had an excellent win in the quarter final when it looked like they had fluffed their lines only for their bowlers to get them out of a bit of mess and send them back to finals day. They do look the weakest of the four teams though and there is no getting away from that.
The big problem with Gloucestershire is they don’t have Beau Webster for this part of the tournament and his absence leaves a huge hole in their batting and we saw that in that quarter final. Their bowling got them out of trouble but Warwickshire basically choked in that one. If Gloucestershire are going to win this match they need their star bowlers to have another outstanding performance or one of the opening batters to catch fire and not look back.
Sussex
For a lot of the group stage of this competition, Sussex were leading the way in the South Group. They eventually finished second in it but they put Lancashire to the sword in one of the more impressive performances in the quarter final and they have not only earned their spot at finals day but they are entitled to feel very good about their chances of getting their hands on this trophy for the first time in 15 years, which is far too long for a club with this talent.
Unfortunately for Sussex, England have kept hold of Jofra Archer but there is still the likes of Tymal Mills, Ollie Robinson and Brad Currie who are all international cricketers and their spinners are useful enough as well. This Sussex batting unit has caught fire throughout this competition and if they can do that again here then they are entitled to believe they have a really good chance of making the final and seeing what they can do when they get there.
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Key Players
David Payne is now the joint leading wicket taker in the competition for Gloucestershire in this tournament and you’ve got to think if the Bristol based side are going through to the final he has to pick up two or three wickets here.
Daniel Hughes is the leading run scorer in the tournament this season and either side of the Vitality Blast quarter final he has scored 144 and 83 in the County Championship so he is in brilliant form and having won Big Bash titles with Sydney he’ll know all about rising to the occasion on finals day.
Betting
I really like Sussex in this match but the bookmakers clearly agree with me because you can only get 4/6 on them to win and that looks about right to me so I’ve had to look around at the various markets to see how I can get on board with them and the one I have come to is their boundaries market. This is a really aggressive Sussex batting outfit. You can tell that coach and captain were heavily involved in the England pomp at international level because there is a freedom to go out and play.
In the second match between these two Sussex hammered 30 boundaries. They only hit 17 in the first game between the two but that was in their first match and the weather towards the end of May was ordinary at best so we can forgive them for needing to come on for the run. The boundaries here at Edgbaston aren’t the biggest and Sussex just plundered Lancashire for 19 boundaries in just over 14 overs in the quarter final. The line for this one is 20.5 but if the Sussex batters catch fire like they have been doing I think they’ll clear this line.
Tips
Back Sussex – Over 20.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
