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London Spirit are still searching for their first points of the 2024 men’s Hundred following defeats against Southern Brave and Birmingham Phoenix respectively, ramping up the pressure on them ahead of Welsh Fire’s visit to Lord’s.
DATE & TIME: Thursday August 1st 2024: USA ET – 10:00am / USA PT – 7:00am / UK – 3:00pm / India – 7:30pm
VENUE: Lord’s, London, England
WEATHER: Dry at the start of play with sunny intervals and hot temperatures of 27c, but a chance of thundery showers later in the day
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 Welsh Fire Men
LONDON SPIRIT MEN FORM: SPIRIT STILL YET TO PUT POINTS ON THE BOARD
London Spirit batting continues to disappoint and their score of 127/7 at Lord’s wasn’t enough to defeat Birmingham Phoenix, who edged home by three wickets with one ball remaining despite a valiant effort from the hosts with the ball.
WELSH FIRE MEN FORM: FIRE DOUSED BY REIGNING CHAMPIONS THIS PAST WEEKEND
Chasing 114, Welsh Fire would’ve been confident of maintaining their 100% start to this year’s Men’s Hundred at the interval of their game vs Oval Invincibles, but in the end, they limped to 103/8 in response, losing wickets at regular intervals.
LONDON SPIRIT MEN BETTING ANALYSIS
London Spirit will hope that this is the match where number three batter Michael Pepper goes on to convert after getting small starts but not really kicking on. The Essex star makes finding boundaries extremely easy whether they be fours, or maximums. With that in mind, it’s well worth backing Pepper to hit 0.5 sixes in this game.
Liam Dawson has had a very good start to this season’s Hundred and it was with the ball where he impressed vs Birmingham Phoenix last time out, taking two wickets. His spin is always likely to be attacked by the opposition which can work in his favour, so consider backing Dawson to accrue over 1.5 match wickets.
WELSH FIRE MEN BETTING ANALYSIS
A player like Tom Abell should be extremely well suited to batting at Lord’s. With slightly more control and touch, although he can be aggressive when needed, Abell should profit on a bigger ground and backing him to record 30+ runs here via the ‘Batter Milestones’ market appears a smart move to make.
David Willey’s left-arm pace variations have seen him take five wickets across two Welsh Fire fixtures so far. He’s such a threat whenever he comes on to bowl, particularly at the start of an opposition innings and this warrants investment from bettors, specifically for Willey to pick up another 2+ wickets on this occasion.
LONDON SPIRIT MEN VS WELSH FIRE MEN EXPERT PREDICTION
London Spirit need to get themselves a win sooner rather than later, otherwise it’s going to be another year of failure. When taking into account how poor Welsh Fire batted at the weekend, this feels like a big opportunity for the hosts at Lord’s, who are surely due a performance from their top order whether they are setting or chasing a target.
The bowling attack is more than capable of carrying London Spirit through, so if the batters do their jobs well, then they have every reason to think that this game is the one which sees them pick up two points. In the end, back the Spirit to gain that much-needed victory.
LONDON SPIRIT MEN VS WELSH FIRE MEN TOP TIP: LONDON SPIRIT MEN TO WIN