Cricket betting tips: The Hundred – Birmingham Phoenix v London Spirit preview and best bets

Cricket tips: The Hundred, Thursday August 24

2pts Jamie Smith top Birmingham Phoenix batsman at 11/2 (bet365)

1pt Liam Dawson Man of the Match at 18/1 (Unibet)

1pt Ravi Bopara Man of the Match at 16/1 (bet365)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook

Having proven one of the most successful franchises since The Hundred began, finishing runners-up in 2021 and enjoying another solid campaign last year, 2023 has been something of a car crash for Birmingham Phoenix.

Things have certainly been very different this time around with one win from seven matches confirming a dreadful season, and they looked to have checked out when faltering to 116-9 batting second in a heavy defeat to Trent Rockets at the weekend.

The big problem has been the much-vaunted batting line-up that has only scored a single half-century in the competition so far and has seen star names Liam Livingstone and Moeen Ali fare particularly badly.

Like Moeen, perhaps Ben Duckett is suffering from an Ashes hangover, though perennial disappointment Will Smeed is another who just hasn’t fired, and even with home advantage on Thursday night, they look up against it when hosting London Spirit.

One bright spot for Phoenix has been the emergence of 23-year-old Surrey batsman JAMIE SMITH who looked very good when making 60 against the Oval Invincibles three games back – the only fifty registered for Phoenix this term – and was much the best when adding 38 against the Rockets on Saturday.

Smith was a level above his struggling teammates in that match, taking a particular liking to the pace of Luke Wood, and looking equally comfortable against spin.

He appears to have really good reach when batting, able to get out and meet the ball on the full with his big, long stride while also having no trouble in rocking back and punching similar length deliveries off the back foot. He picks up length early, a priceless gift to have, and dare I say it, there is a little bit of Kevin Pietersen in his batting.

It’s still very early days, of course, but on recent form at least, he doesn’t find himself in a very good field and anything in the region of 5/1 in the top Birmingham Phoenix batsman market is worth taking. The 11/2 on offer with bet365 is much too big.

Added to the staking plan are a couple of darts at the Man of the Match market, with LIAM DAWSON and veteran RAVI BOPARA earning the nod.

Edgbaston can be a tricky pitch to predict, but it’s rare that spin isn’t a factor in Birmingham, and with this game now a dead-rubber, I wouldn’t be surprised if the surface rolled out for this is one that has seen plenty of cricket already this summer.

Phoenix had no answers to spin against the Rockets on Saturday and in Dawson, they will come up against arguably the second best limited-overs cricketer in England after Adil Rashid.

If there is anything in the surface, Dawson will exploit it and though the slight negative with him is that he tends to make his mark with his economy rate rather than big hauls of wickets, he has enjoyed another solid season.

Matthew Carter was Man of the Match in the aforementioned clash between the Rockets and the Phoenix at the weekend, the Birmingham outfit proving devoid of ideas as the off spinner adopted his customary wicket-to-wicket approach and let the opposition batsmen dig their own graves. Dawson will do the same, and we are dealing with a different class of spinner here.

The vote for Bopara is probably more of a hunch, but his medium pace, cutters, knuckle balls and canny variations could be perfect if we are served up a used, slow pitch, and he will be a nightmare for free-flowing players such as Smeed, Livingstone and Ali who would much rather some pace on the ball.

Bopara did a similar number on the Northern Superchargers recently, when picking up four wickets and the Man of the Match gong, and don’t be surprised if this faltering Phoenix batting line-up fail to find the answers to his box of tricks on Thursday.

Preview posted at 1615 BST on 23/08/2023

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