Welsh Fire v Trent Rockets The Hundred Tips
Click here for Welsh Fire v Trent Rockets odds
Wednesday 29 July, 15:30
TV: Live on Sky Sports
Welsh Fire are on the brink of uncharted territory. They have never won three consecutive games in one season. A win over Rockets will put them firmly at the head of the race for the play-offs and final. Again, nose-bleed territory as they have never finished higher than fourth.
At first glance the squad building looked underwhelming. But Fire are set up to win their home games on a sluggish Cardiff surface, which remains bottom of the pile for rungetting. In Joe Root and Rachin Ravindra they have players adept at finding the gaps when the squeeze is on. And if it's not expansion is not beyond them; see Ravindra's extraordinary seven sixes the last time out against MI London.
That would have felt like a massive win for Fire, even if the new 'Invincibles' are not really related to the old. They may see it as a watershed victory in their quest for establishing themselves as a force. The Betfair Sportsbook remain unconvinced, however. Fire are ranked as the outsiders at even money.
Rockets have a win and a loss to their name. They are tricky to judge at the moment because the defeat came on a road in Birmingham where the result could well have been different if they had won the toss. There is no toss bias in Cardiff. Last run for Rockets was a come-from-behind win over Spirit thanks to Craig Overton's hitting.
There are more than hints of an issue with the bowling group. Matt Henry has twice failed to bowl his full allocation as he has been too expensive. He went at 2.90 per ball and bowled only ten versus Spirit. Rockets desperately need him to find something from these surfaces. It could be they change things up by adding Danny Briggs' spin on a conducive surface. Or Dan Mousley who would add an extra batting option.
Comings and goings may be irrelevant, though, as once again we have to take on a high first-innings runs line. The 151.5 unders play is historically extremely solid.
Back under 151.5 1st inns runs
MI London v London Spirit The Hundred Tips
Click here for MI London v London Spirit odds
Wednesday 29 July, 18:30
TV: Live on Sky Sports
Pre-tournament favourites MI London are two wins from three after squeezing home against Southern Brave last time out. Are they the real deal or are cracks being papered over?
It is hard to gauge. It could be argued that a chopping and changing selection is exactly in line with MI policy around the world. That has rarely enamoured them to punters. An example this season is the inclusion of Ollie Pope against Brave in place of Jason Roy. It could be that Roy is injured. But even so, Pope's inclusion shows a lack of batting depth. He's just not a T20 player and shouldn't be involved at this level. The fact he batted as low as No 7 suggests MIL, when the heat is on, as it was against Brave, don't even trust him. They really struggled despite benefitting from a massive chase bias in Southampton.
The MI brand has, of course, won three titles around the world (South Africa, UAE and the US). It could be that they win in their first attempt in England. The moot point is whether they're the right price to do so at a shade under 3/14.00 on the Exchange. It hardly feels like a must bet.
That feeling may have something to do with a bias around this very game. We want to take on MIL on the basis that we believe they are being overrated. It seems like the perfect opportunity because they come up against Spirit side which has been a tad disappointing.
They are taken to improve, though. The balance, squad and leadership (coach Andy Flower) is too strong for them to be like the old Spirit.
They are odds-against here but post-toss we will bet them to take advantage of the 65% chase bias at The Oval. We don't expect the odds to change much, if at all.
Back Spirit if batting 2nd