THE HUNDRED 💯: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Saturday’s Hundred format games between Southern Brave v Birmingham Phoenix and Northern Superchargers v Oval Invincibles with recommended BETDAQ bets.

Welsh Fire v Manchester Originals

MATCH OVERVIEW:

We have another fantastic double header in The Hundred this Saturday and all cricket bets are 0% Commission on BETDAQ Betting Exchange.. We have had a host of talking points this week, after Thursday there was only a difference of six runs between the average score batting first for the women and men. The women had an average score of 131, while the men 137 – in T20 the gap would be much wider but the womens game has been doing superbly well and the viewing figures are very impressive.

Watching the games, I get the sense that nobody is building an innings. I know we have a new format but there is only a difference of 20 balls – is it that massive? In T20, you gave yourself a few balls to get settled, maybe even ten balls where you only tried for singles and then could launch towards the end. In The Hundred, it seems to me every batsman is going 100% full tilt from ball one – this is never a good strategy in any format of the game, and that is showing in the scores.

The competition hasn’t been helped by the heatwave in the UK too, as the pitches have been very dry and spin friendly. That hasn’t been ideal for the ECB target market of kids who usually love to see big shots, sixes and fours. However, it has to be said the crowd is very similar to the T20 Blast! This should be a good game today as Welsh Fire have impressed me – they are two from two, while Manchester Originals are up near the top of the table two with one win and one washed one result from three games.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

Hopefully we get a good wicket here and see a decent game of cricket. Welsh Fire were able to sore 165/4 which was a very impressive score and Southern Brave managed 147 in response, so this has been one of the better scoring grounds. I wouldn’t expect as high of a score today as Southern Brave look poor on paper, so par could be around 150. We have had a lot of showers over the UK this week, so watching the radar is a must – both before the off and during the game.

RECOMMENDED BET:

It’s fair to say Manchester Originals have yet to fire with the bat, they couldn’t chase down 146 in the opening game – although we were still all learning what was a good score then and the bowlers won them their second game – bowling Birmingham Phoenix out for 87 on a spinning wicket in Old Trafford. They need their batters to improve, but for me I can’t see why they are favourites here. Welsh Fire have really impressed me, won both their games and have home advantage. They also batted really well twice – they scored 173/4 and 165/4 – considering the average score mentioned above at 137 they have been the best batting side thus far. They look great value at 2.08.

The Edge Says:
Three points win Welsh Fire to beat Manchester Originals at 2.08 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange

View the market here -> https://bit.ly/BDQWelMan

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

Personally I would wait three overs and see what batting conditions are like here before doing anything in-running. If the wicket looked dry and slow, I wouldn’t be too keen on anything. However, if the wicket looks good for batting then I would be happy to support the team batting first, as judging by the first game here we can expect a decent score. If Welsh Fire batted first I’d be pretty confident and very happy to support them, as they look very good with the bat – they seem in great touch too and with the short straight boundary we could see plenty of movement. Manchester have a reasonably good batting line-up too, so they can post a good score batting first and are worth a trade as well. Basically, my strategy for this game is get on the team batting first for a trade unless the pitch is spinning!

Northern Superchargers v Oval Invincibles

MATCH OVERVIEW:

Next we move to Headingley for Northern Superchargers against the Oval Invincibles. We have a very even market here with both sides trading around 2.0. I have to say though at the prices Oval Invincibles look a much better option than Northern Superchargers. Oval Invincibles saw their second game abandoned with bad weather, but they were pretty impressive when winning their opening game. Northern Superchargers also lost a game to weather on Wednesday, but they have lost their other two games.

So far, the Superchargers haven’t done much right. They bowled poorly in their opening game and conceded 173/4 against the Welsh Fire, then they batted first in their second game and ended up all out for 132 against Trent Rockets. That was a tricky pitch however, and you could say they have come up against two quality sides. This should be a good game, and tell us a lot about where both sides are at. You get the feeling this is a big game for Northern Superchargers who will be under immense pressure at the bottom of the table if they lost.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

Headingley has had some big scores in the T20 Blast, and we started this competition with a big score too – Welsh Fire scored 173/4 and then Northern Superchargers tried to chase it down but could only manage 168/7. That’s been the highest scoring game so far though, and I would expect another good batting wicket here. Once again, remember to check the radar with all these showers around. Fingers crossed we can get a full game in.

RECOMMENDED BET:

Although we have a very even market, I much prefer Oval Invincibles at the odds. They look a much stronger side than Northern Superchargers in my view. Their side is pretty impressive on paper – Jason Roy, Sam Curren, Sunil Narine, Sam Billings, Colin Ingram and Tom Curran are all top quality players. Northern Superchargers have Chris Lynn and Ben Stokes in their XI which is obviously massive, but I get the feeling that once you get them – that goes a long way to winning the game. Also, if the wicket doesn’t spin then their bowling looks light to me.

The Edge Says:
Two points win Oval Invincibles to beat Northern Superchargers at 1.97 with BETDAQ Betting Exchange

View the market here -> https://bit.ly/BDQNorOva

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

I assume Chris Lynn and Ben Stokes will bat at two and three, so once they are out I would be very happy to get against the rest of their batting. That being said, they could easily win the game on their own such is their talent – let’s see what score Northern Superchargers have when they are out – if it isn’t pretty high then that’s a good chance to take on the rest of their batters. When I look at Oval Invincibles, I see the opposite – they have strong batting all the way down, and with a good wicket expected I’d be very happy to support their batting.