THE EDGE: Our cricket tipster The Edge previews Monday’s The Hundred clash between Welsh Fire v Southern Brave with a recommended BETDAQ bet.

Welsh Fire v Southern Brave

MATCH OVERVIEW:

A new week in The Hundred starts with a bottom of the table clash on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. Welsh Fire host Southern Brave in a game that seems likely to decide the Wooden Spoon! It’s been a remarkable fall from grave for Southern Brave who won the competition this season. They started the competition looking so confident too but they have put four losses together after beating Welsh Fire in the opening game. Both sides have had their batting issues and that’s why they are bottom of the table, and it appeared from quite early in the tournament and Welsh Fire were the weakest side and it’s not a surprise that they haven’t won a game yet.

England’s Test side are in the news this week because they lost by an innings to South Africa – the UK cricket media never liked The Hundred and they have been using the Test result as the latest stick to beat the tournament with. It does highlight something else though – Jonny Bairstow chose to miss the early past of the tournament to rest for that series, then misses the latter part of the tournament with the Test series and this has basically left Welsh Fire missing their marquee player – their superstar batter at the top of the order. It does beg the question – are sides better off signing an overseas player instead of an English player if they are going to miss the tournament? Ben Stokes is another example – sides might actually think why bother, which becomes a huge issue for the tournament and the ECB.

Southern Brave are the big favourites to get back to winning ways here, and who can blame the market. Welsh Fire have been exceptionally poor with the bat. They’ve had three big losses and then failed to even chase 130 in between. It’s hard to see past Southern Brave here to be honest.

WEATHER AND PITCH WATCH:

This will be the third game at Cardiff and it is difficult to get a read on conditions here. Oval Invincibles scored 158/5 and Welsh Fire only managed 119/6 in reply. Then Birmingham Phoenix scored 130/7 which looked an under par total but Welsh Fire finished on 126/5. That was a very strange score to be honest because you’d just assume they’d lose more wickets for that score. I suppose in fairness they had the game in their hands and threw it away in the final ten balls – credit to the Birmingham Phoenix bowling though! I would definitely go into this game with an opening mind on the scoring and what a par score in, but if Welsh Fire batted first I’d expect a low score.

RECOMMENDED BET:

I know Southern Brave are heavy favourites here and they have lost four in a row, but it’s hard to see anything bar a comfortable win for them. Welsh Fire have been woeful with the bat, and I’m just not sure how they turn it around. Obviously having David Miller in the middle order is a huge advantage but he is always coming in under pressure – never with the platform to attack. I’m also happy to keep stakes low here because Southern Brave have had their own issues with the top order, and if the openers get out cheaply again that does put pressure on the middle order who haven’t fired. The thing is, what kind of score do they need here? They don’t need to aim too high. Southern Brave are worth a small investment at around 1.6 in my opinion – this isn’t a game to go too heavy with the staking.

The Edge Says:
One point win Southern Brave to beat Welsh Fire at 1.6 with Betdaq Exchange.

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

IN-RUNNING STRATEGY:

I wouldn’t go into this game with a set plan scoring wise. We’ve had a range of scores here, the T20 data shows we can have a range of pitches too. Obviously the straight boundary is very short by International standards but the square boundaries are massive and bowlers usually bowl to that. I feel the best angle in this game will be getting against the Welsh Fire, especially the top order. Perhaps the only Welsh Fire batter to not take on is Miller. If the wicket appears to be offering something to the bowlers too, I’d take on the Southern Brave openers who have looked under pressure – their wickets will be worth plenty of ticks too.