Richard Mann provides his preview of The Hundred final, which sees Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave do battle at Lord's on Sunday night.
Cricket betting tips: The Hundred final
1.5pts Sam Curran Match Hero at 13/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
1pt Tom Curran Match Hero at 17/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair Sportsbook)
0.5pt Tom Curran top Oval Invincibles batsman at 25/1 (bet365)
So here we are, this year’s screening of The Hundred will deliver its final act at Lord’s on Sunday night, when Oval Invincibles and Southern Brave renew hostilities at 6.00pm, UK time.
Invincibles, bidding for back-to-back titles following victory over Manchester Originals in the final 12 months ago, will start as slight favourites, while Brave will need to recover quickly following a dramatic Super Over success against Birmingham Phoenix at the Oval less than 24 hours earlier.
Jofra Archer was the hero of hour again, brushing off a modest tournament by his own high standards to deliver the goods under pressure, and he, Tymal Mills, Craig Overton and Chris Jordan form a potent Brave pace attack that should thrive on a Lord’s surface that has been hard work for batting against the new ball all through the competition.
How Invincibles opening pair, Dawid Malan and Will Jacks, combat that quartet will go a long way to deciding the outcome of the final. Expect Malan to sit in and try to control the innings, Jacks will attack and look to take the game away from the opposition. It should make for fascinating viewing.
Invincibles have been rocked by availability issues. Australia paceman Spencer Johnson has been ruled out through injury and England have pulled rank with Gus Atkinson who will rest up ahead of this week’s Test match against Sri Lanka.
They have plenty of depth, though, and in Adam Zampa the best white-ball spinner in world cricket right now. He has 17 wickets in 8 matches this season. So, too, does Sam Curran to go with his two half-centuries with the bat. The excellent Saqib Mahmood will again deputise, while Tom Curran will be eyeing another big performance in the final following his heroics last year.
If the new ball does dominate, Brave might reckon they have more bite up front, but their batting is heavily reliant on captain and opening batsman James Vince, the tournament’s leading runscorer.
Invincibles bat deep, for my money much deeper than Brave. Jordan Cox, Sam Billings, Donovan Ferreira and the Curran brothers form quite the middle order and, crucially, this is a unit that knows how to get the job done. We shouldn’t forget they found themselves in a hole in last year's final until Tom Curran blasted 67 not out from only 34 balls.
The Curran brothers will have big roles to play again, and SAM CURRAN is backed to chalk up another Match Hero gong as he bids to continue his stellar campaign.
Sam Curran has won this award on three occasions already and as the designated death bowler and batting in the top four, much will rest on his shoulders. The England international has been right back to his best in recent weeks, delivering the yorker with brilliant accuracy and building on his excellent T20 Blast form with the bat.
Though his recent form claims aren’t as persuasive, brother TOM CURRAN is added to the staking plan in Match Hero market at 17/1.
He has always struck me as the type of character of come alive on the biggest stage, and we’ve seen plenty of evidence of that for England, in the Big Bash and in the final of this competition last season when lighting up Lord’s having come to the crease with his team in big trouble.
He’s had injury issues to contend with this summer and has barely been needed with the bat, but he hits the ball a long way when on a going day, something that could yet be key given how important those middle order positions have been in this year’s tournament due to the continued trend of the new ball dominating.
Curran’s last two returns with the ball have been 4-24 and 2-21, so his bowling appears back to its best, and he’ll have a big part to play once more.
With preference for the Invincibles, I’ll be backing both Curran brothers in the Match Hero market but can’t resist a small play on Tom for leading Invincibles batsman at 25/1. This is a big-match player who could have the stage set for another star turn should the new ball again claim early casualties and the middle order be left to carry out the repair work.
It’s worth saying at this stage that readers of the outright preview are with Invincibles at 5/1, so I see no need to press up the green button again. I remain confident they are the best team, though don’t expect it to be plain sailing at the end of a tournament where low-scoring matches have become the norm.
Posted at 0850 BST on 18/08/24
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