The final batch of group matches ahead of the quarter-finals next Tuesday. All games start at 7pm BST, the prices are from green listed bookmakers, but mostly from Paddy Power.
Derbyshire v Worcestershire
Derbyshire beat Durham by three wickets on Tuesday night to consolidate their position in the top 4, this time with Luke Reece’s 63 taking them home. Derbyshire play Leicestershire on Thursday night and a win there will take them through to the knockout stages.
Worcestershire have had a very disappointing campaign, primarily caused by an inability to restrict totals with their bowling attack. There have been bright spots, notably the performances of young England A batsman Joe Clarke but with only three wins from twelve games. They lost at Lancashire on Wednesday night posting a poor 125 on a slow pitch
Derbyshire are 4/6 here, Worcestershire 11/8. The 4/6 looks very attractive
Lancashire v Warwickshire
Lancashire, 7th in the North Group table with now fiver wins from their ten games, are close to a top four place after beating Worcestershire on Wednesday and probably need to win this their last game to qualify after three successive losses to Yorkshire, Northants and Birmingham last week
Warwickshire are right in the hunt for one of the four qualifying places, on 15 points with one game to play. An experienced team with one of the best T20 slow bowlers in the competition in Jeetan Patel they probably lack some batting firepower but make up for it with canny play and great tactics
Odds here are Lancashire 11/10, Warwickshire 10/11. I have to support the home underdogs at odds against
Northants v Durham
Northants have been solidly in the top four of the North Group all the way through the competition despite their most recent successive losses to Leicestershire and Warwickshire.
They have two matches to go beginning at Yorkshire on Thursday night and are third in the table with 14 points. This their last game is one which they would expect to win
Durham remain on three wins all season after losing at Derbyshire on Tuesday night by three wickets. They have nothing to play for, likely to play an inexperienced team and very difficult to see anything other than a home win here.
This is reflected in prices, Northants 1/2 and Durham 2/1. No bet but a home win expected
Notts v Leicestershire
Notts became the first team to qualify from the North Groupinto the knock-out stages
Leicestershire play in Derby on Thursday night and depending on result of that game they might still be able to reach the quarter finals with a win here.
Notts position at the top of the group has been largely a result of the corruscating form of their opening partnership Alex Hales and Riki Wessels. Helping that has been playing on the best batting wicket in the country during the competition
For the Hales/Wessels partnership
Wessels 485 runs off 322 balls at a strike rate of 150,including a hundred
Hales 454 runs off 215 balls at a huge 211 strike rate, including a hundred and three fifties
Of the remainder of the batting line up the closest are Brendan Taylor and Samit Patel (235 and 22 runs respectively)
The Leicestershire bowling line up has gnarled Australian overseas player Clint McKay but him apart it isn’t the strength of the team (that lies in the hard hitting of Ronchi and Cosgrave).In the previous game the two played in the group Notts batted first and Hales and Wessels took Leicestershire apart scoring 51 and 63 respectively in the first ten overs.
Outright odds for the game are Notts 1/2 Leicestershire 2/1. Again no bet at the prices
Glamorgan v Middlesex
Glamorgan, one of the surprise packages in the tournament this season became the first team to qualify from the South group last weekend. Their Kolpak and overseas players Ingram and Miller have been at the vanguard of making this team competitive quickly
Middlesex are up to third in the south group after an easy win against Gloucestershire on Tuesday night. Just quietly, their form has begun to pick up at the tail end of the group stages. With no less than six south group teams on 12 points fighting for two spots Middlesex need to win this game to be sure of qualifying
Prices here are Glamorgan 10/11 Middlesex evens. At home with their batting firepower I like Glamorgan at the price.
Hampshire v Somerset
Hampshire are second in the South Group table with 15 points and well set to qualify, possibly even without needing to win this game. A difficult proposition to play at home
On slow pitches with an accomplished bowling attack, they will be favourites to win this game
Somerset are inconsistent, and their vaunted batting line up has rarely fired enough this season. With this their last game to play they are on 12 points and it is a “must win” for hopes of qualification
Odds are Hampshire 4/6 Somerset 6/5. Difficult to see beyond the home side again,looking to win to secure a home quarter final.
Kent v Surrey
Kent are a point behind Surrey but bottom of the group table ahead of their agame against Essex on Thursday night. Qualification is unlikely but they will certainly need two wins to stand a chance.
Recently they suffered losses to Hampshire and Sussex not defending 167 and 163 but a surprisingly facile win over Somerset kept their hopes alive.
Surrey arrested a slump of three losses in a row beating Sussex on Sunday thanks to Aaron Finch scoring113*. They have two games to go and, starting with Gloucestershire on Thursday night might need to win both in a very congested south table as they have the worst of Net Run Rate of the many teams currently on 12 points
Here, Kent are 5/4 Surrey 4/6. I can’t back Srrey at 4/6 away from home with their inconsistency. No bet.
Sussex v Essex
During the first half of the competition Essex were bottom of the table and now, a run of results later, beating Gloucestershire, Middlesex and Hampshire in succession they
are fourth in the group and in charge of their own destiny with two matches of their group stage to go starting with Kent at home on Thursday night
Sussex are in a fragile fourth place in the table with one game to go here after their loss to Surrey. Home advantage helps here but they are coming up against in form opponents
Sussex are even money home underdogs here, Essex 9/10. In their current form Essex are the bet.
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