Welsh Fire v Trent Rockets The Hundred Tips: Wait on Fire duo

• Fire wait on Afridi and Rauf

• Rockets messing with XI

• Bowl first venue

Welsh Fire v Trent Rockets
Monday 14 August, 14:30
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Welsh Fire v Trent Rockets team news

The champions are struggling. They have lost two in two and are bottom of the pile. Arguably they should have got up in the chase against London Spirit. Likewise against Northern Superchargers. Joe Root as the sixth bowler is not a great look and they are sacrificing players' natural roles to find room for him. See Sam Hain not even batting against Spirit.

Possible XI: Hales, Malan, Kohler-Cadmore, Root, Munro, Sams, Gregory, Hain, Sodhi, Wood, Cook

With Shadab Khan unavailable for Phoenix on Sunday, it wouldn't be entirely surprising if Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf don't play. They were supposed to be able to play in six games. This will definitely be their last. Jonny Bairstow returned with a duck in a thrashing against Brave as the bad old days also came back.

Probable XI: Bairstow, Eskinazi, Clarke, Abell, Phillips, Willey, Green, van der Merwe, Afridi, Rauf, Payne

Welsh Fire v Trent Rockets pitch report

There have been nine full matches played at Sophia Gardens in The Hundred. Five of those first-innings runs have come in at 150 or fewer. Five have also been won by the side batting second. We note that a rain-affected match in Fire's first game of the season saw them defend 94 in a 40-ball game. There will be plenty shorting a par line in the low 140s.

Welsh Fire v Trent Rockets match odds

Fire are 2.1411/10 with Rockets 1.855/6. Given the importance of bowling first and Rockets making a mess of their balance, it is fair to say the value is obvious.

Still, we have to wait for the team news. The last thing required is betting Fire now and then finding out that Afridi and Rauf are on a plane to join up with the Pakistan ODI squad.

The weather forecast is good but rain earlier in the day and some cloud cover could make for ideal bowling conditions. In short similar to when Fire were rolled for 87 against Brave.

If they get the chance to bowl first here - and Afridi and Rauf play - we're happy to trade them to around 1.608/13 favourites.

Welsh Fire v Trent Rockets player bets

Alex Hales and Bairstow have been boosted to 7/24.50 the pair for top team bat respectively. Hales does have a good record against Afridi, scoring 34 off 16 balls with one out.

He's not found it so easy against Raug, though, with 12 off 13 and one out. Root may not score fast enough, often enough but 4/15.00 top Rockets has some appeal. Afridi is 21/103.10 for top Fire wicket-taker and 10/111.00 for man of the match.