THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Friday’s Hundred format game between Manchester Originals v London Spirit with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

MATCH OVERVIEW:

It’s Playoff time at The Hundred on Friday as Manchester Originals meet London Spirit on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. It’s been very interesting to see the debate played out in the media over the last few days. We’ve had ex England players say the matches “don’t matter” and that we need to play more T20 cricket. It really doesn’t help that the ECB have scheduled a Test series in the middle of the Hundred and we had big name English players put out of the whole tournament. Look how bad Welsh Fire were this season; losing Jonny Bairstow was clearly a big blow but Ben Stokes also pulled out of the Northern Superchargers. Now with the clash with the CPL, we have overseas talent opt to play there – it’s probably telling where the players view this tournament given (nearly) all of them opted for the CPL.

Still, the show must go on and hopefully this game is as dramatic as the final Group game between Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles. Manchester Originals went into that game knowing they needed to win to break into the top three, and with their impressive net run rate they jumped up to second. They might have lost Jos Buttler and Andre Russell, but they really pulled that one out of the bag. That being said, they face a really solid London Spirit side here who were very strong until the end of the tournament. It’s hard to know what to make of that finish because it looked like they would make the Playoffs anyway, but they did appear to ease off. You can really see the lack of overseas talent when you look at the London Spirit side though – even Ravi Bopara is getting a gig and it’s been years since he was at the top of his game.

London Spirit will be relying on Eoin Morgan to lead the charge, To be honest, looking at both of these sides you can understand why the media is keen to push this is a low quality tournament, and it’s hard to argue that point when you see the sides. I do feel this might be a low quality game, but Manchester Originals really have the momentum coming into this game and they’ll be tough to beat. That chase on Wednesday would have given them a huge boost in confidence.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

Unfortunately there is an 80% chance of rain in Southampton on Friday, so watching the radar is going to be a must for this game. Fingers crossed we actually get a game, but with the temperature 22 degrees we should – hopefully! The Rose Bowl isn’t a massive scoring ground historically, but we have had some big scores here this year. South Africa and India recorded big T20 scores here this summer, and they won by wide margins too. The first inning scores here at The Hundred have been; 107/7 (chased), 147/6 (won, 188/3 (won) and 138//6 (chased). Given the weather forecast, you’d have to opt to bowl first despite what any of the scores suggest this season to be honest.

RECOMMENDED BET:

Everything says this is going to be a close game – both sides are missing stars and have their own issues. In general though both sides have been impressive – that’s why they are in the Playoffs after all. For me though I can only see one winner. Manchester Originals have all the momentum here and have been putting together some excellent displays even without Jos Buttler and Andre Russell. London Spirit have gone a little backwards over the few closing games, and a lot of pressure is on Morgan. I’m keeping stakes small because we do have a close game in store, but Manchester at 1.97 is my selection.

The Edge Says:
One point win Manchester Originals to beat London Spirit at 1.97 with Betdaq Exchange.

View the market here -> https://betdaq.biz/ManLon

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

A lot of the in-running strategy is going to focus on the weather here, and with the forecast saying we have a good chance of rain then there will be a lot of focus on the radar! I can see the market moving a lot on the toss news, and I feel we will see an advantage for the side who bowls first. It’s fair to say that we do have a lack of batting talent on both sides with the big oversea stars missing, and the bowlers might come out on top in this one so I’m keen to get on the side who bowls first.