Birmingham Phoenix (BPH) will lock horns with Oval Invincibles (OVI) at Edgbaston cricket ground in match 18 of the Hundred. The home side, who has four points from as many games, eased past Trent Rockets by six wickets on Sunday, while Oval Invincibles, too, registered a six-wicket win in their last match and are fourth in the points table with five points from four games.
Team News
The Birmingham Phoenix think tank will be delighted that 19-year-old Will Smeed made the most of his opportunity in the victory against Trent Rockets. He scored a 13-ball 36 and looked to have fixed the franchise’s opener woes. Finn Allen, too, found form with an excellent 43 in the last game. The rest of the batting line-up is likely to remain the same.
Moeen Ali will be pleased with his bowlers, who were excellent against Trent Rockets. They picked up wickets at regular intervals and restricted them to 144/6. Pat Brown, who conceded just five runs in his first set of five in the powerplay, is likely to get another opportunity. Meanwhile, Adam Milne is the player to watch out for in the Oval Invincibles. The overseas pacer has bagged five wickets in the last two games.
Oval Invincibles are likely to name an unchanged playing eleven from the impressive win over Welsh Fire. The bowlers pulled off another outstanding performance as, for the second game in a row, they took two wickets in the powerplay. Despite leaking 19 runs off his last five, Tom Curran got the crucial wickets of Leus du Plooy and James Neesham.
The visitors are likely to name an unchanged playing eleven from the impressive win over Welsh Fire. The bowlers pulled off another outstanding performance as, for the second game in a row, they took two wickets in the powerplay. Despite leaking 19 runs off his last five, Tom Curran got the crucial wickets of Leus du Plooy and James Neesham, which dried up the runs.
The spinners, too, have kept things tight at their end. Tabraiz Shamsi clinched his first wicket in the tournament, while Narine went wicketless but gave away only 19 runs. The West Indies all-rounder has also contributed with the bat in the last two games.
With under-fire Laurie Evans finding his groove, the batting unit is unlikely to see any chopping and changing. Oval Invincibles fans will be hoping to see fireworks from the opening duo Jason Roy and Will Jacks. Overseas batsman Colin Ingram is likely to keep his place in the playing eleven despite scoring just 28 runs in the tournament so far.
Top Five Fantasy Points scorers (previous match)
BPH: M Ali (73 pts), W Smeed (65 pts), A Milne (60 pts), F Allen (55 pts), L Livingstone (40 pts)
OVI: T Curran (79 pts), S Billings (56 pts), R Topley (53 pts), L Evans (45 pts), S Mahmood (39 pts)
The Hundred Stats
Most Runs: BPH – L Livingstone (122 runs); OVI – S Billings (92 runs)
Most Wickets: BPH – A Milne (7 wickets); OVI – T Curran (5 wickets)
Most Sixes: BPH – L Livingstone (7 sixes); OVI – S Narine (5 sixes)
Most Fours: BPH – L Livingstone (9 fours); OVI – J Roy (8 fours)
Most Catches: BPH – I Tahir (3 catches); OVI – C Ingram (3 catches)
Squads
BPH (likely): F Allen, W Smeed, L Livingstone, M Ali, M Hammond, C Benjamin, B Howell, A Milne, T Helm, P Brown, I Tahir
OVI (likely): J Roy, W Jacks, S Narine, S Billings, C Ingram, L Evans, J Clark, T Curran, T Shamsi, R Topley, S Mahmood
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Parameswaran Sankaranarayanan
Parameswaran Sankaranarayan is a sports enthusiast who has worked in print, website, and other digital platforms. He was part of the editorial team of first-ever Indian football-based website - IndianFootball.com (now defunct) - and passionately follows the latest happenings in world football. During his time as a journalist, he had the opportunity to interact with some of the iconic personalities in Indian sports and witness some memorable moments in Indian football.
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