Richard Mann takes a look at Friday's action from the Vitality Blast and has a couple of bets in his staking plan.
Cricket betting tips: Vitality Blast June 18
2pts Birmingham Bears to beat Lancashire at 5/4 (Betway)
1pt Sam Curran to be Man of the Match at 8/1 (bet365, VBet)
Birmingham Bears v Lancashire
Even at this early stage of the Vitality Blast season, Friday night is shaping up as a critical one with a couple crunch fixtures featuring some of the early runners in the competition.
The first one to jump off the fixture list is the clash pitting current North Group table-toppers BIRMINGHAM BEARS against Lancashire at Edgbaston, while in the South Group Surrey will bid to continue their strong start to the campaign when hosting Hampshire.
Lancashire can boast one of the strongest batting line-ups in the competition, with England internationals Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone teaming up with the likes of Alex Davies and Finn Allen, while leg spinner Matt Parkinson continues to lead the bowling attack with flair and passion.
While Buttler and Livingstone aren’t away on international duty, Lancashire will remain a tough nut to crack, though they were humbled by Durham on Thursday and with Saqib Mahmood yet to feature this season, their bowling has the potential to be vulnerable.
The Bears might not boast the same number of high-profile batsmen in their camp, but in Sam Hain they have one of the most consistent performers in the Blast, while captain Will Rhodes showcased his talents with a brilliant 79 to down Leicestershire on Wednesday.
Expertly led by the impressive Rhodes, that handsome victory was the Bears’ fourth from five matches in the competition so far this term, much of that success credited to a fine, all-round bowling attack that includes experienced heads Tim Bresnan, Danny Briggs and Carlos Brathwaite.
With England internationals Chris Woakes and Olly Stone available on Friday, Rhodes will have some welcome selection headaches when considering the final make up of his bowling attack, but at least he knows he has the firepower at his disposal to take down Lancashire’s fearsome top order.
With their own batting less sexy, but certainly serviceable and apparently growing in confidence, the Bears look the value play with home advantage even more significant at Edgbaston.
Surrey v Hampshire
Down at the Oval, it’s hard to envisage a rampant Surrey not winning again, and as such, striking a bet in the Man of the Match market looks a good route to explore.
Given the very real prospect of him opening the bowling and batting at number four, the obvious choice is the excellent SAM CURRAN whose T20 stock continues to rise following another promising spell with Chennai Super Kings at the Indian Premier League this spring.
The backing Curran has received from someone of the stature of MS Dhoni has clearly done wonders for Curran’s confidence and Surrey have taken note, too; his elevation to number four in the batting order rewarded with a sparkling 72 not out from only 36 balls against Somerset recently.
Having picked up 4/29 with the ball only a day earlier against Middlesex, it is clear that Curran has both facets of his game working well and I’m happy to bet another Man of the Match performance is just around the corner.
Posted at 0925 BST on 18/06/21
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