Ben Stokes could be the headline act in The Hundred on Friday when Oval Invincibles host Northern Superchargers – Richard Mann previews the action.
BEN STOKES’ possible return to the Northern Superchargers XI could be a big boost ahead of their trip south to take on reigning champions Oval Invincibles on Friday, 6.30pm, UK time.
Harry Brook returned on Tuesday as Nicholas Pooran helped the Superchargers down Southern Brave at Headingley, and Stokes would further beef up a top six that also features Australian Matt Short.
In fact, don’t be surprised if Stokes replaces Durham teammate Graham Clark at the top of the order, a role he has filled with some success for Rajasthan Royals in the IPL. I suspect the Supercharges won’t want to tinker too much with Pooran at three and Brook at four.
It’s hard to see England’s Test captain turning out here on the back of three Tests in just over three weeks, following plenty of County Championship cricket prior to that, just to bat at number five. Neither Pooran or Brook will move up to open.
With all that in mind, Stokes looks the obvious answer to open the batting, and as such, the 9/1 available with bet365 about the 33-year-old in the top Superchargers batsman market could soon look very big. Even the 13/2 and 6/1 on offer elsewhere makes appeal.
The other significant factor to consider is Stokes’ excellent form, his last three scores of 69, 54 and 57 not out (from 28 balls) for England confirming his game to be in fine working order. For good measure, the latest of those half-centuries came when opening the batting in England’s second innings at Edgbaston following a finger injury to regular opener Zak Crawley.
There is some doubt about Stokes' availability for Friday – yet another example of poor communication from a competition that continues to get the small details wrong – but when interviewed on Sky Sports Cricket at the weekend, Invincibles captain Sam Billings seemed pretty sure Stokes would be in opposition on Friday.
As always, it's stakes refunded if Stokes doesn't play, so he's well worth a spin at the prices.
Elsewhere in the side markets, the form of Adam Zampa makes him very hard to oppose in the top Invincibles bowler market.
I had wanted to be with a seamer here, given seamers dominated on this ground last Saturday night when the ball nipped around under lights throughout.
However, Zampa is always such a tough nut to crack, so I’ll sit this one out.
As for the match itself, general quotes of 8/11 about the Invincibles is about right. 2-2 so far, there is no doubt in my mind they are once again the best team in the competition, with no weak spots, and I expect them to win.
That said, with so much batting power in their ranks, the Superchargers are patently very dangerous, and I can let an odds-on bet go at this stage of the tournament, especially when already with the Invincibles outright at 4/1.
Posted at 1645 BST on 01/08/24
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