Richard Mann delivers his verdict on the early action from The Hundred, with best bets for Thursday and Friday's matches available here.
Cricket tips: The Hundred
2pts Jonny Bairstow under 21.5 runs 21.5 at 17/20 (William Hill, betway)
2pts Will Smeed top Birmingham Phoenix batsman at 7/2 (Star Sports)
London Spirit v Manchester Super Giants
- Date: Thursday, 18:30
- Venue: Lord's
- TV: BBC Two, Sky Sports Cricket
If my pre-tournament thoughts are proven to be correct, this could easily be the final come the middle of next month.
I certainly have London Spirit and Manchester Super Giants down as two of the strongest sides in the tournament.
The visitors have real power in their batting line-up, headed by Jos Buttler and ably supported by South Africans Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen.
Whether the nature of the pitch at Lord's plays to their strengths is open to question however, with the jury still out on the surface here.
Nevertheless, I want to play UNDER 21.5 JONNY BAIRSTOW RUNS.
I remain unconvinced that Bairstow is the player he was, and the Super Giants have the pace in their attack to cause him problems early on.
Birmingham Phoenix v Trent Rockets
- Date: Friday, 18:30
- Venue: Edgbaston
- TV: Sky Sports Cricket
A knee injury to Jacob Bethell means Birmingham Phoenix must do without their star batsman for the entirety of the tournament.
That's clearly a big blow, but it might just open up the TOP BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX BATSMAN market.
To my mind, there are doubts about a few in this line-up, but not WILL SMEED who averaged close to forty in this summer's T20 Blast, finishing that competition with scores of 89, 46, 52, 21 and 49.
The Somerset opener is hot right now, and enjoyed batting on this ground on T20 Blast Finals Day just last weekend when carrying his team's batting innings in the semi-finals.
He looks rock-solid at 7/2.
Sunrisers Leeds v Southern Brave
- Date: Friday, 14:30
- Venue: Headingley
- TV: Sky Sports Cricket
Preview to follow...
ALSO READ: Richard Mann's outright preview of The Hundred
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