Saqid Mahmood is back to full fitness
Saqid Mahmood is back to full fitness

T20 Vitality Blast preview and free betting tips: Low scores predicted in Roses clash


Richard Mann previews Friday night's action from the Vitality Blast as Yorkshire host old rivals Lancashire.


Cricket betting tips: Vitality Blast July 2

1pt No First Innings Fifty at 15/8 (Betfair, Paddy Power)

1pt No Player To Score a 50 In The Match at 5/1 (General)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook


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The latest instalment of the Roses rivalry takes place in front of Sky Sports cameras at Headingley on Friday night, where Yorkshire will be hopeful they can atone for a couple of crushing defeats at the hands of bitter rivals Lancashire in last year’s Vitality Blast.

After riding on the back Jonny Bairstow’s blade, Yorkshire's flying start to this year’s competition has hit a couple of speedbumps with two defeats from their last three matches – the most recent a chastising hammering at the hands of Birmingham Bears – not yet displacing them from top spot in the North Group, but leaving their passionate members looking nervously over their shoulders for the remainder of regular season.

Like every year for Yorkshire, losing key players such as Bairstow, Joe Root, Dawid Malan, David Willey and Adil Rashid leaves a gaping hole in their squad, and as impressive as the likes of Harry Brook and Jordan Thomson have been this term, being shorn of so much international quality is hard to overcome.

On the upside, coach Andrew Gale has moved quickly to draft in reinforcements with Mark Stoneman joining on loan from Surrey. With Yorkshire stalwart Adam Lyth unlikely to stay quiet for too long, that opening pair at least have the potential to lay strong foundations for Brook to make his mark later in the piece, but the rest of the line-up does look weak.

The bowling is pretty solid, though, with Matthew Fisher richly gifted and effortlessly good if his body can hold up, while New Zealand paceman Lockie Ferguson will expect more of himself than he has produced in recent matches and will be keen to make an impact in a game as big as this. Throw Dom Bess into the mix, and Yorkshire should continue to take wickets.

Lockie Ferguson
Lockie Ferguson

As for Lancashire, their own inconsistent form has lasted a good deal longer with four wins from ten matches a disappointing return for a side boasting a dangerous batting line-up on paper, one which also had the services of Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone earlier in the campaign.

Even with Buttler and Livingstone having left to join up with England – before injury stopped the former in his tracks – Lancashire’s top four still features the likes of Alex Davies, Finn Allen, Keaton Jennings and Dane Vilas. However, none have really fired so far this season.

Having the excellent Saqid Mahmood injured for the early part of competition left Lancashire’s without one of its key weapons in the bowling department, and his return to full fitness will be a massive boost going forward, particularly if it eases just some of the burden on leg spinner Matt Parkinson.

Mahmood picked up four wickets in Thursday night’s victory over Worcestershire and with the bowling attacks of both teams looking stronger than the misfiring batting, I can’t help but feel this could be a low-scoring encounter.

Going under on the first-innings runs line could be a possible angle into this one, but instead, I’ll split stakes on NO FIRST INNINGS 50 at 15/8 and NO PLAYER TO SCORE A 50 IN THE MATCH at 5/1. Both bets would have been winners in Lancashire’s win on Thursday, despite the Red Rose posting 159/6 batting first, while Yorkshire were rolled out for only 81 in that aforementioned loss to the Bears earlier this week.

Posted at 1115 BST on 02/07/21


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