THE BLAST: The Vitality Blast enters its final weekend of group stage action before next week’s quarter finals, with plenty of places still up for grabs. We preview one game from each of the Northern and Southern divisions below as the race to make it to Finals Day heats up across the country, alongside some of our recommended BETDAQ bets.
Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire – Friday 18:30
It’s first versus third in the Northern division as league leaders Warwickshire travel to Trent Bridge. Nottinghamshire need one win from their remaining two fixtures to book their place in next week’s quarter-finals but were delivered a warning shot on the quality they will face after losing by five wickets to second-placed Worcestershire on Thursday. It was the third time in four games that the Outlaws have scored below 145, with Alex Hales’ lean form continuing after being dismissed for a golden duck.
Warwickshire have already booked their place in this year’s quarter-finals after brilliantly winning their last five games on the bounce, culminating with a dominant 53-run victory over second-placed Worcestershire last Friday. The Bears have began to see the best of Glenn Maxwell in recent matches, with the Australian power-hitter blasting 44 off 20 deliveries en route to posting a team score of 228 – their highest total in this year’s tournament so far.
Warwickshire have undoubtedly had the better season and will be amongst the favourites to win July’s Finals Day at this very stadium, but there will be more impetus for Nottinghamshire to get a result here, so backing the hosts at 1.87 is the selection.
Nottinghamshire v Warwickshire markets
Surrey v Somerset – Friday 18:30
There’s also top-of-the-table action from the Southern division as runaway leaders Somerset visit the Oval to take on second-placed Surrey. The hosts have rarely failed to entertain when playing in front of their home fans this tournament, amassing an astonishing 490 runs across their last two innings in south London (even managing to lose to Middlesex in record-breaking fashion after posting 252 in their first innings). Whilst Sam Curran’s men are second on 16 points with just two games to play, a trio of sides follow behind them on 14 points, so a positive result in at least one of their remaining fixtures is an imperative.
Somerset have racked up the most points out of any side across both divisions (20) and will confirm a first place finish if they win on Friday evening. Their four-wicket win against Gloucestershire last week was their third on the bounce and tenth out of 12 games overall – their last defeat coming against Friday’s opponents a fortnight ago – with all three of those wins coming when batting second. They have Ben Green to thank for setting their batsmen such low targets – no bowler has taken more than his 25 wickets so far this tournament.
The manner of this game draws parallels with the Nottinghamshire versus Warwickshire fixture, with one team looking to consolidate qualification against the league leaders, but we’re going to swing the other way for this one. Somerset have been imperious in their group fixtures so far and will look to put a marker down ahead of next week’s quarter-finals, so backing the visitors at 2.21 is the play.
