London Spirit Men vs Birmingham Phoenix Men Preview & Prediction | The Hundred 2024 | League Stage
Both London Spirit and Birmingham Phoenix were on the end of chastening defeats in their respective opening games, so bouncing back at the first time of asking here is crucial.
DATE & TIME: Saturday July 27th 2024: USA ET – 1:35pm / USA PT – 10:35am / UK – 6:35pm / India – 11:05pm
VENUE: Lord’s, London, England
WEATHER: Dry with patches of sunshine and temperatures starting 22c but dropping down to 18c as play goes on.
HOW TO WATCH THE HUNDRED: USA – Willow & DAZN / UK – Sky Sports & BBC / India – Fancode Click here for a list of broadcasters in other territories
HOW TO GET TICKETS FOR THE HUNDRED: Click here for the latest ticket information for London Spirit Men vs Birmingham Phoenix Men
LONDON SPIRIT MEN FORM: BATTING WILTS UNDER PRESSURE OF THE BRAVE
After winning the toss and batting first in their opening game, London Spirit could only make 138/9 away to Southern Brave, which was comfortably chased down by their opponents. At one stage, the Spirit had been reduced to 77/6 as their key batters subsided meekly and the lower order did well to drag them up to 138.
BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX MEN FORM: PHOENIX PUT TO SWORD BY REIGNING CHAMPIONS
Like the Spirit, Birmingham Phoenix batted first and paid the price, bowled out for just 89 on the opening night of the Men’s Hundred against Oval Invincibles. In response, they could only take two wickets as their opponents cantered home with 31 balls to spare.
LONDON SPIRIT MEN BETTING ANALYSIS
Of London Spirit’s top seven, only Dan Lawrence passed 12 runs, recording 38 from 30 balls. The Spirit captain has always found Lord’s a happy hunting ground from a batting perspective and will want to prove that again here. Against a bowling attack that struggled at the Kia Oval last time out, back Lawrence to lead by example and finish as the hosts’ top batter.
Although he took just the one wicket on Wednesday night, Nathan Ellis showed his quality with an economy rate of 6.90 and he could be afforded more success here at Lord’s against big-hitting batters who may look to take more risks. Ellis boasts subtle variations that more often than not reap rewards down the stretch and warrants investment via the ‘Bowler Milestones’ market, specifically to gain 2+ wickets.
BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX MEN BETTING ANALYSIS
Although he might have failed in Birmingham’s opening game, dismissed for 0 in just two balls, it would be foolish to write off Liam Livingstone. Notoriously powerful and a threat on any ground in the world, Livingstone will want to make up for that failure here and remind everyone as to what he can do against the white ball. Therefore, explore backing Livingstone to strike both over 0.5 total match sixes and over 1.5 match fours.
New Zealander Tim Southee showed his experience with the ball, taking the only two wickets managed by the Phoenix vs Sam Billings’ side. Southee’s ability to move the ball away from the bat makes him a huge threat up top, but also his variations can prove profitable at the death. Explore backing Southee to once again record over 1.5 match wickets.
LONDON SPIRIT MEN VS BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX MEN EXPERTPREDICTION
This has the potential to be a really close match, but at the same time it’s hard to know what to expect from either team. Both badly flopped last time out but they each have the potential to bounce back immediately when considering the quality of players within both squads, particularly on the batting front.
But for London Spirit, Lawrence is probably the most reliable of those top order stars. After being released from the England squad to play, he’ll no doubt have motivation to send a message over to Ben Stokes and Brendan McCullum, plus Lawrence is an excellent ‘360’ player who can manipulate the field well and hit the ball to any corner of Lord’s. With the result itself hard to predict, it’s well worth backing Lawrence to get himself in-amongst the runs again.
LONDON SPIRIT MEN VS BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX MEN TOP TIP: DAN LAWRENCE TO SCORE OVER 21.5 MATCH RUNS
