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Cricket betting tips: T20 Blast Finals Day preview and semi-finals best bets
Richard Mann previews T20 Blast Finals Day, which is again staged at Edgbaston on Saturday – get his best bets for both semi-finals here.
Cricket betting tips: T20 Blast Finals Day
1pt Ben Geddes top Surrey batsman v Somerset at 17/2 (General)
2pts Daniel Hughes top Sussex batsman v Gloucestershire at 5/2 (General)
Surrey v Somerset
- 11.00am, UK Time
- Edgbaston
- Sky Sports Cricket
T20 Blast Finals Day has come around again and it feels very much like déjà vu on Saturday, with the first semi-final featuring Surrey and Somerset at Edgbaston a repeat of last year’s clash.
Somerset came out on top on that occasion, just reward for dominating South Group in the regular season, before beating Essex by 14 runs in the final. This time around, Surrey were much the best side in the regular season, topping South Group, and they will fancy their chances of revenge in Birmingham.
Surrey hurt by England call-ups
With Oval Invincibles and their strong Surrey core having registered back-to-back titles in The Hundred only last month, I think it’s fair to argue that Surrey are the outstanding short-form team in the country right now – but there is a fly in the ointment this weekend.
Another masterful piece of scheduling by the ECB means Surrey will be without key men Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton and Reece Topley who are all on England duty for the ongoing T20I series against Australia. Gus Atkinson is rested and we await news on whether Jamie Smith, Ollie Pope and Dan Lawrence will be allowed to play following a busy summer.
Surrey will still be strong. Experienced heads Dom Sibley and Rory Burns are there to add stability, while the fireworks come from Laurie Evans and Tom Curran, both always names to watch in the middle order.
Don't let Geddes go under the radar
That said, the batting will still need patching up a little, so I’ll be taking a chance that BEN GEDDES gets a game following his strong run of form in the recently-concluded One-Day Cup, and then a good half-century in the crucial County Championship fixture which, incidentally, is being played between these two sides this week.
Geddes is a player who has been on my radar for a while – an imposing, clean hitter – and were it not for the immense strength in depth at Surrey, I’m sure we would’ve heard a lot more about the 23-year-old by now. Nevertheless, I am convinced he is a very good player in the making.
In his last five One-Day Cup innings, Geddes put together three half-centuries, including 81 from number three against a Sussex bowling attack featuring Ollie Robinson.
As ever, it’s stakes returned if Geddes doesn’t play, but international commitments might mean Surrey have to draft this promising youngster in for Finals Day, and quotes of 17/2 appeal.
Banton fitness key to Somerset's chances
I had indented to spend much of this piece waxing lyrical about Somerset's Tom Banton, with 515 runs at an average of 48.81 in this competition so far this year and hot from a brilliant hundred against Surrey in this week’s County Championship showdown.
Banton looks much closer to the finished article now and England will surely come calling again before long, so what better stage than to offer a reminder of his talents than in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Finals Day.
However, Banton had to be helped from the field before the resumption of play in the aforementioned County Championship match on Wednesday following an incident in the warm-up, and then hobbled to the crease later that day.
At this stage it’s unclear how serious any injury is, but it seems unlikely that Banton will make Finals Day, which is a pity.
Gloucestershire v Sussex
- 2.30pm, UK Time
- Edgbaston
- Sky Sports Cricket
The second semi-final will see Sussex start as strong favourites against Gloucestershire.
Sussex will be without Jofra Archer – another on international duty with England – but the bowling is still strong, featuring Ollie Robinson and Tymal Mills.
Still, it would be folly to write off Gloucestershire who remain underrated despite qualifying from a very strong South Group, before beating a powerful Birmingham Bears outfit on this very ground.
Wily Gloucestershire dangerous to discount
To steal a racing term, that looks very strong form, with the Bears having topped North Group in the regular season, so don’t be surprised if we are handed another shock.
The batting really centres around their solid and dependable opening pair of Miles Hammond and Australian Cameron Bancroft. Whether they have enough firepower down the order remains the big question.
David Payne leads a very canny bowling outfit and has 29 wickets this term, while Matthew Taylor has 23. Payne’s economy rate is 6.54 while Taylor’s is 7.01. In fact, this is a generally serviceable all-round attack, so it won’t be easy for Sussex.
On economy rates, it will be interesting to see how the pitch at Edgbaston plays this year. Historically, this has always been a good place for runs and high scores in white-ball cricket, but as my Cricket…Only Bettor colleague Paul Krishnamurty argued on this week’s show, that hasn’t always been the case this summer.
In order for Gloucestershire to win the tournament, one suspects they would need the matches to be low-scoring, so as to put less emphasis on their power hitting which doesn’t look capable of matching the other three teams. It will be fascinating to see what type of wicket we do get.
Classy Hughes makes Sussex appeal
My final bet is on DAN HUGHES to be top Sussex batsman.
Dan Hughes was just four runs shy of taking the maximum possible off this over! pic.twitter.com/otFFsosn9A
— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) June 15, 2024
Hughes is a class act who fans of the Big Bash will know well from his exploits with Sydney Sixers for a number of years now.
Hughes has always been happiest when asked to control the innings from the top of the order and has been a revelation for Sussex this term, at present standing as the leading runscorer in the competition with 595 runs at 42.50.
He looks worth sticking with.
Posted at 0950 BST on 12/09/24
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