THE EDGE: The Edge previews The Hundred format game between Northern Superchargers v Birmingham Phoenix with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
MATCH OVERVIEW:
The Hundred continues on BETDAQ Betting Exchange on Thursday as Northern Superchargers and Birmingham Phoenix start their tournament. As I have said in my opening previews, the Hundred is under pressure as a tournament this summer but it has started well. The opening crowds were decent, if not sell outs, and the level of play was decent. They are lacking in overseas stars but that’s always going to be an issue with the other T20 leagues going on around the world at the moment.
What’s really going for the Hundred this summer is that they can piggy-back off a wonderful Ashes series we’ve just had. That has got England buzzing, and surely this will appeal to many of the younger fans. We should have a cracking game on Thursday evening, and we have plenty of English stars in the squads too. Birmingham Phoenix have Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes in their line-up, along with the big hitting Liam Livingstone. Shadab Khan will be replaced around 14th August which is a loss, and they’ll be hoping for a quick start.
Northern Superchargers will be headed by Ben Stokes, and hopefully he plays after leading England in a wonderful Ashes series. He has appeared to be carrying knocks at times however he seems to be playing as I write. They have a very strong batting unit if everyone plays, but I would worry about them if Stokes pulled out.
WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:
The atmosphere is always good at Leeds! Headingley was quite high scoring last season, and this tends to be a good T20 wicket too. The first inning scores here last season were 152/8 (chased), 143/5 (chased), 208/5 (won) and 135/8 (won). I would expect pretty good scoring conditions again – the forecast for Thursday looks fairly OK, Wednesday was very poor so they were lucky it wasn’t scheduled then!
RECOMMENDED BET:
I’m definitely keep stakes low here. I want to see what Northern Superchargers do with Ben Stokes, whether he plays or not. I can’t find much firm information as I write. As I said above, he looked like he was carrying some knocks during the Ashes. Birmingham Phoenix could end up with the stronger XI given the circumstances if Moeen and Woakes play after the Ashes too. Birmingham Phoenix come into the game as the favourites, and on balance I feel they can get the job done here. Their bowling looks that little bit stronger and they are worth a small bet at 1.88.
The Edge Says:
One point win Birmingham Phoenix to beat Northern Superchargers at 1.88 with Betdaq Exchange
View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/NorBir
IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:
Without fully knowing what teams we can expect here, especially with Northern Superchargers, it is hard to fully form a set in-running strategy. This is definitely a game for small stakes and just reacting to events on field. I do feel the Northern Superchargers bowling is a little light on paper, and taking them on might be an angle. Their batting looks strong, but so does Birmingham Phoenix and we should have decent batting conditions here too.
