Vitality Blast betting tips: Quarter-finals preview including Kent v Birmingham Bears
The Vitality Blast returns this week with the four quarter-finals running from Tuesday to Friday – Richard Mann previews every match.
Cricket tips: Vitality Blast quarter-finals, August 24-27
2pts Yorkshire to beat Sussex at evens (bet365)
2pts Nottinghamshire to win the Vitality Blast at 4/1 (General)
2pts Both teams to score 170+ runs in Somerset v Lancashire match at 11/8 (Sky Bet)
1pt Both teams to score 170+ runs and Somerset to beat Lancashire at 10/3 (Sky Bet)
Kent v Birmingham Bears
When: 19:00 BST, Friday August 27
Where: Canterbury
How to watch: Sky Sports Cricket
Despite enjoying a flying start to this season’s Vitality Blast – winning four of their first five matches – Birmingham Bears still needed to win their last two games of the regular season, and rely on results elsewhere, to secure their place in the quarter-finals.
Sam Hain (393) being the only Bears man to pass 300 runs so far in the campaign tells the story of their mid-season slump, and he will need more support from captain Will Rhodes and Ed Pollock if they are to make an appearance in front of their own fans on Finals Day.
Despite the obvious flaws in a batting group that is missing an established superstar, the likes of Matthew Lamb and Robert Yates really impressed in the Royal London One-Day Cup recently, grasping the opportunity and demonstrating that the Bears do have plenty of young batting talent coming through.
Producing in front of the Sky Sports cameras on a Friday night will be the next challenge, but the Bears have no concerns about a really varied and streetwise bowling attack that has spin from Danny Briggs, experience from Tim Bresnan and a touch of x-factor in the shape of Jake Lintott – one of the stars of The Hundred and Caribbean Premier League bound after this match.
Considering the Bears have been shorn of the services of Chris Woakes for much of the season, and Olly Stone for all of it, that the bowling has carried the side this far is of great credit to those involved and they are sure to provide a stern challenge for Kent.
Having topped the South Group with nine wins, Kent are favourites for this one, though the North Group looked a much stronger section to my eye and they won’t find the Bears the pushovers some expect – even with home advantage.
Zak Crawley’s form is sure to attract plenty of interest following his recent axing from England’s test team, but Joe Denly, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Jordan Cox and Jack Leaning help form a really strong batting unit, with cult hero Darren Stevens also expected to slot into the middle order somewhere.
The Bears bowling against the Kent batting should decide this match, particularly with the hosts’ own attack patently their weaker suit – Adam Milne apart – and potentially vulnerable if the Bears’ young guns settle into their work quickly.
With so many interesting sub-plots, this might be the most interesting tie of the last eight, and at the prices, the Bears make most appeal at 6/5. However, having sided with them at 16/1 in my outright pre-tournament preview here, I’ll be watching with everything crossed that this upwardly mobile young outfit can take another step up the ladder and secure a spot on Finals Day.
Published at 1720 BST on 24/08/21
Yorkshire v Sussex
When: 1830 BST, Tuesday August 24
Where: Chester-le-Street
How to watch: Sky Sports Cricket
The Vitality Blast hasn't been kind to YORKSHIRE over the years, their defeat to Hampshire in the 2012 final the best they have mustered in a competition that has seemingly played second fiddle to the County Championship.
The noises from those inside Headingley would rebuff such claims – and 'no comment' or plain old denial has become a favoured method for the club to deal with interrogation and investigation in recent times – but the results speak for themselves, with young blood generally given opportunities in white-ball cricket and the more established, senior players saved for the four-day game.
That might not necessarily be a bad strategy, though, not when you can unearth the consistent stream of talented cricketers that Yorkshire continue to produce, and while many of the club's big names were chasing the bright lights of The Hundred recently, Yorkshire's young guns punched above their weight to reach the last eight of the Royal London One-Day Cup.
There were so many positives to take from that run, as the likes of George Hill and Harry Duke impressed with the bat and the fit-again Matthew Waite looked lean and mean with the ball, ably supported by that man Hill who rates an all-rounder of real promise.
Hill's efforts have earned him a place in the 13-man squad for Tuesday's showdown with Sussex, but the fact the likes of Ben Coad and Matthew Revis miss out tells you about the quality returning to the Yorkshire ranks; namely David Willey, Adil Rashid, Adam Lyth, Dom Bess, Harry Brook and Matthew Fisher.
Yorkshire County Cricket Club might currently be suffering a crisis off the field, but the quality of cricketers they can put on the field is most impressive and I fancy them to get the better of Sussex, another county investing in youth this season and reaping the rewards.
As ever, the foundations of their success have been an excellent bowling attack which features the likes of Tymal Mills and Chris Jordan, while Afghanistan wrist spinner Rashid Khan is expected to join up with the squad following his involvement in The Hundred.
The Sussex batting is less convincing, however, with Phil Salt and veteran Luke Wright shouldering plenty of responsibility, and there is so much quality in that Yorkshire attack – both in terms of pace and spin bowling – that they look to have more bases covered. A trip to Finals Day for the White Rose surely beckons.
Published at 1755 BST on 23/08/21
Nottinghamshire v Hampshire
When: 1900 BST, Wednesday August 25
Where: Trent Bridge
How to watch: Sky Sports Cricket
The Vitality Blast trophy has been shared around since its inception in 2003, but the one constant has been the strength of NOTTINGHAMSHIRE, and they underlined their status as the best T20 outfit in the country when winning this competition for the second time in only four years last summer.
An utterly dominant showing on Finals Day saw them make light work of Surrey in the final as captain Dan Christian and Ben Duckett powered their side over the winning line, and so far, it has been more of the same this time around. Nottingham won the North Group at a common canter, only losing two of their 14 matches, though bizarrely tying three more.
More often than not, Nottinghamshire have looked a class apart with Alex Hales (463 runs), Ben Duckett (367) and Joe Clarke (366) forming the strongest top order in the tournament, before the likes of Samit Patel and Steve Mullaney add the finishing touches at the back end of the innings.
Patel and the experienced Jake Ball have once again led the attack with all the skill and knowledge we now expect of them, though surprises packages Calvin Harrison and Matthew Carter have been no less impressive and have helped fill the void left by the retired Harry Gurney and absent Christian.
Even without Christian, Nottinghamshire appear to have every angle covered and while their attack might not be quite as experienced as it once was, the batting is stronger than it has ever been with Hales, Duckett and Clarke all hungry and desperate to push for the international recognition their rich talents demand.
Furthermore, the fact they have a dressing room full of players who know how to win this competition is another huge plus and I'll be disappointed if they can't see off Hampshire to book another place at Finals Day.
Hampshire only just scraped out of the South Group on Net Run Rate and though James Vince continues to light up almost every franchise tournament he plays in, much rests on the shoulders of him, Australian D'Arcy Short and Joe Weatherley.
True, you could argue the same about the Nottinghamshire top three, but they have plenty of others in their ranks who have put their hands up in big matches in recent years, while Hampshire's hopes do rely on the fortunes of a few of their big guns.
Mason Crane and Brad Wheal have enjoyed excellent tournaments so far, so this ought to be a test for Nottinghamshire's batting line-up, but the home side are very much the team to beat on Wednesday and for the rest of the competition.
As such, 4/1 for them to go all the way again makes definite appeal, particularly considering I already have fellow quarter-finalists Birmingham Bears in my book at 16/1 having made them my only bet in the outright pre-tournament preview.
For those to have followed me in, I must advise a cover bet on Nottinghamshire, while for those not already involved, backing the reigning champions at 4/1 makes sense from here on in. They were 3/1 at the same stage last season, and I believe their credentials are even stronger this time around given star man Hales was a passenger for much of last year, in stark contrast to the form he has shown so far in 2021.
Published at 1755 BST on 23/08/21
Somerset v Lancashire
When: 19:00 BST, Thursday August 26
Where: Taunton
How to watch: Sky Sports Cricket
2015 champions Lancashire found eventual winners Nottinghamshire too strong on Finals Day last year, and will bid for their second successive trip to Edgbaston when travelling to Somerset on Thursday.
Nevertheless, despite their pedigree and a batting line-up boasting the likes of Liam Livingstone, Jos Buttler and Finn Allen, Lancashire still lost five of their 14 group matches and needed to win their last three games to reach the last eight.
With Buttler and Saqib Mahmood now missing due to England commitments, Lancashire will be without some crucial firepower on Thursday, and while there is enough quality in the batting ranks to compensate for that, the bowling looks threadbare.
Matt Parkinson continues to lead the attack admirably – well supported by Tom Hartley and Luke Wood – but the fourth and fifth bowling options could leave Lancashire vulnerable, and Somerset will surely target that weakness.
Somerset enjoyed a marginally stronger regular season, finishing second in the South Group thanks to eight victories. Four wins from their last five group matches ensured they finished on a high, though neither side pulled up any trees in the subsequent Royal London One-Day Cup.
Somerset themselves boast a really strong batting unit, with New Zealand star Devon Conway in excellent touch (309 runs) before this competition made way for the The Hundred, ably backed up by the likes of Tom Banton and Will Smeed.
Another name to look out for is Tom Lammonby who made a sparkling 90 from only 36 balls when Somerset beat Gloucestershire at Taunton in July and has since featured in The Hundred. With Lewis Goldsworthy another young batsman of considerable promise, Somerset’s biggest problem might be finding room for everyone in Thursday’s starting XI.
Like Lancashire, I’m not quite so sure the bowling has the same depth, for all Lewis Gregory’s skills are well known by now, and on a pitch as good for batting as Taunton, big runs could be on the cards.
Taunton has never been the biggest ground, and the pitch generally true if not allowed to get overly dry so to weigh too heavily in favour of spin, and the home groundsman will surely be wary of doing that on Thursday with a wrist spinner as good as the aforementioned Parkinson in opposition.
Furthermore, there have been five scores posted in excess of 180 at Taunton already this season, along with scores of 165-0 and 169-2, and the 11/8 (Sky Bet) for BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE 170+ RUNS in the match rates a bet, as does the 10/3 with the same firm for BOTH TEAMS TO SCORE 170+ AND SOMERSET TO WIN. I'll be backing both.
Published at 1530 BST on 24/08/21
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