Vitality t20 Blast 2019 – Essex Eagles vs Gloucestershire Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Essex Eagles vs Gloucestershire taking place? Saturday 27th July, 19:00 (UK)
Where is Essex Eagles vs Gloucestershire taking place? The Cloudfm County Ground, Chelmsford
What is the expected weather for Essex Eagles vs Gloucestershire? 19c but rain forecast all through day until the evening but play could be severely affected
What television channel is Essex Eagles vs Gloucestershire on? Essex Eagles vs Gloucestershire will be shown live on Sky Sports Cricket
Where can I stream Essex Eagles vs Gloucestershire? Sky Sports subscribers can stream the match online via Sky Go
Where can I get tickets for Essex Eagles vs Gloucestershire? Check https://www.ecb.co.uk/T20-Blast for updates about tickets
HEAD-TO-HEAD
All-time meetings: Essex Eagles W6, Gloucestershire W4, No result 4
Last meeting: No result
THE TEAM NEWS
ESSEX EAGLES
- Essex Eagles slipped to their second defeat in their opening three matches on Friday night as Kent Spitfires’ total of 175/6 proved too much for their batsmen at Canterbury as they fell 22 runs short to lose ground on the top four places.
- Stars batsman Cameron Delport was run out for just 9 runs which was a huge blow to their hopes of a successful run chase and despite Ryan ten Doeschate’s unbeaten 50, not enough of his colleagues could stick with him for long enough to challenge the Spitfires’ total.
- Their bowling remains an issue for them right now as they conceded 176 against Kent on Friday after conceding 340 runs from their previous 32 overs so they continue to struggle against strong batting line-ups and they need to improve that facet of the game to avoid the pressure piling up further on their batsmen.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE
- Gloucestershire are sitting on three points from their opening two matches as their first game was washed out but they picked up a narrow two-wicket win over Middlesex last time out to get their first win of the campaign.
- The victory over Middlesex was in no small part down to an extremely tidy bowling performance with Tye and Higgins both taking 2/23 from their four overs each while Payne took 3/32 as they restricted their opponents to just 148/9 and that enabled their batsmen to scrape a victory against Middlesex’s quality bowling attack.
- The main negative to the washed out game against Glamorgan is that their batsmen have only had one innings apiece in the tournament so far and the lack of time in the middle may be an issue as only Hammond, Howell and Taylor spent any significant time at the crease against Middlesex, though they will name an unchanged side for this match.
THE PREDICTION
Essex welcome Gloucestershire to their high-scoring home at Chelmsford in front of the Sky TV cameras, but the weather forecast is expected to significantly affect play. If they do manage to get some overs in, a reduced-overs match may well suit Essex as they certainly have the edge in big-hitters over the visitors. That said, Gloucestershire are playing good cricket right now and they will fancy their chances. So much depends on the weather but the lack of playing time for Gloucestershire may work against them here.
