Manchester Super Giants v Trent Rockets The Hundred Final Tips: MSG the value in a chase

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Sunday 16 August, 18:00
TV: Sky Sports

Manchester Super Giants v Trent Rockets team news

Rockets are worrying about the fitness of Mohammad Amir. He has a hamstring injury and has missed the last two group games. As a local player, Amir offers depth and balance to the bowling attack. Ben Sanderson has deputised although he's not like-for-like as Amir is a southpaw.

Not surprisingly, the table toppers season has been based on doing both disciplines well. They are second and third respectively on bowling economy and batting strike rate.

Their top three is all about power with ben Duckett, Finn Allen and Aneurin Donald extremely dangerous. Given they have lost only tice it is probably churlish to point out that Sam Billings at No 4 and Mitch Santner at Np 6 both feel a spot too high.

Probable XI: Duckett, Allen, Donald, Billings, David, Santner, Gregory, C Overton, Harrison, Henry, Amir/Sanderson

The Super Giants won their last three group games in knockout circumstances. They then made it four-in-a-row with an impressive defeat of Leeds in the eliminator. They busted the bat-second chase at The Oval, too.

Perhaps most impressive was they did it without Tim Seifert and Jos Buttler dominating with the bat. Instead Paul Walter and Heinrich Klaasen kept hitting when they were is something of a hole early on.

MSG have switched focus from the all-action pace attack. It's still there with Josh Tongue, Gus Atkinson and Sonny Baker all at the top of the wicket charts. But there's some added nous with Michael Bracewell's spin joining Noor Ahmad and Liam Dawson.

Probable XI: Seifert, Walter, Buttler, Klaasen, Du Plooy, Bracewell, Dawson, Atkinson, Noor, Tongue, Baker

Manchester Super Giants v Trent Rockets pitch report 

Two significant trends were busted at The Oval in the eliminator. First there were big runs. A first-innings runs line of 166.5 was statistically high, but not high enough. Unders at that line had won 21 out of 28. Second, it was just as well Super Giants posted 186. There has been a heavy bias for the team batting second in The Hundred in Kennington. Sixteen from 28 have been won by the side batting second, which is 57%.

What is interesting is that Betfair Sportsbook have slashed their runs quote for the first dig to 155.5 over/under. It must be assumed, then, that the reason for the high line was the Leeds batting. Unders at that mark has still won at a healthy rate with 16 successes but it feels hard to get involved when the market has moved so much and both of these teams are good batting sides.

Manchester Super Giants v Trent Rockets match predictions

This is a cracker of a contest involving the best sides in the tournament. Rockets lost twice all season while MSG surged back impressively and have won their last four. The latter almost mirror Rockets on the disciplines at third and second for bowling economy and batting strike rate.

On the head-to-head, Rockets won comfortably. That they did it at Old Trafford suggests they are a team for all conditions. They restricted MSG to 137 and got home with 13 balls to spare.

This might not be as attritional in first-innings as that game. And although it also may not be as high-scoring as the eliminator, we have this one going to the wire.

In what should probably be a choice affair we will take the chunkier odds of the two teams with the toss bias onside. So MSG to win from 2.1411/10 is the play.

Manchester Super Giants v Trent Rockets player tips

Returning to a reliable performers might make sense for the big contest. Jos Buttler has been a strong option on top bats and he has form in the previous meeting, when he hit 55 from 37. The offer is 13/53.60 from Betfair Sportsbook.

Craig Overton is the bowler to be keen on. He claimed three wickets in that game to snare top bowler. We have to factor in the possible absence of Amir on that market too. Betfair Sportsbook go 7/24.50.

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