Richard Mann tipped a 14/1 winner in his last T20 Blast preview, and has another strong angle for Sunday's televised game.
Cricket tips: T20 Blast
2pts Gareth Roderick top Worcestershire batsman at 11/2 (BetMGM, VirginBet)
The final round of the T20 Blast group stage takes place across the country on Sunday, with the Sky Sports cameras heading to Taunton for the 18:35 start between Somerset and Worcestershire.
Somerset are around 8/13 to win what is a huge match and book their place in the quarter-finals, but don’t underestimate Worcestershire who sit just behind their hosts in the Central & West Group table on Net Run Rate, having won the same number of games (six from 11) so far.
Worcestershire have actually won four of the last five meetings between these two sides, including on this ground last season, and didn’t play badly when beaten by two wickets by Gloucestershire on Friday.
Somerset, though, have really flexed their muscles of late, winning their last three, all in convincing fashion, against Northamptonshire twice, either side of a high-scoring victory in Derby.
Crucially, their batting is really starting to roll, with Will Smeed and Thomas Rew developing a dangerous opening partnership, and the big-hitting Tom Kohlher-Cadmore finding form at the right time. With Lewis Gregory fit again, that home top seven, which also features Daniel Sams, looks very strong.
Taunton is a runs ground in white-ball cricket, and we’ve seen evidence of that again this season with four scores of 200-plus in just five games. The true surface and small playing area encourage big finishes, too.
In-play punters might want to keep that in mind, particularly when Somerset are batting, but for now I like the TOP WORCESTERSHIRE BATSMAN market for a bet.
With Sikandar Raza currently on international duty with Zimbabwe, and Adam Hose not named in the squad, the visitors are shorn of two of their main runscorers.
As such, the 11/2 (BetMGM, VirginBet) about GARETH RODERICK, actually Worcestershire’s leading runscorer in the Blast this season, looks decent value. Bet365 go 5/1, which is still very fair.
Roderick has so far notched 271 in 10 innings, including scores of 71 and 44 in the last week to confirm his form remains good.
He’ll bat at number three again and will be carrying my money.
Posted at 10:05 BST on 12/07/26
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