Birmingham Phoenix vs London Spirit, The Hundred Men, Today Match Prediction 23 July 2021

brm vs ldn Match Prediction & Analysis

The Birmingham Phoenix will host London Spirit at Edgbaston. The second game of the much-hyped ‘The Hundred’ tournament will be played on 23rd July from 6:30 pm local time. It will be interesting to see how national team partners Eoin Morgan (London Spirit) and Moeen Ali (Birmingham Phoenix) lock their horns against each other. The Hundred is the English and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) much-awaited tournament which will take place parallel to vitality blast. Eight teams will participate in this competition with 15 players in each team. The round-robin format will be followed by the final played between the table topper and the winner of the eliminator between the second and third-placed team. Each team will bowl 100 balls instead of 20 overs in T20.ECB has changed lots of rules for The Hundred- one of them being a bowler can bowl 5 balls (instead of 6) or 10 at a stretch. 

New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori has been placed in charge of the Phoenix. Vettori has managed Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL earlier. He will face stiff competition from the London side who will be managed by Australian Legendary leg spinner Shane Warne.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Birmingham Phoenix Preview

Moeen Ali has a power-packed squad to choose from. He has two centrally contracted England Test team players Chris Woakes and Dom Sibley in the Phoenix squad. But they are bound to play in the test series against India. But nothing to worry about when you have a rocket in your artillery. We are talking about Liam Livingstone. Livingstone was named Man of the Series in the recent T20Is series against Pakistan. He scored 147 runs at a strike rate of 216.17 with a century in the first T20Is. 

Adam Milne, Imran Tahir, Finn Allen are the three overseas players Phoenix have at their services. Finn Allen is currently sitting on the 5th spot of highest run-getters in the Vitality Blast with 399 runs in 13 outings at a strike rate of 159.60. Phoenix can put Livingstone and Allen together to get an explosive start in the beginning. They can put Daniel Bell-Drummond in the middle order. The Kent Spitfires player has caught the eyes of the selectors with his 339 runs in 11 games with the help of 4 half-centuries. 

Chris Woakes and Adam Milne will lead the bowling department. Woakes took 6 wickets against Sri Lanka in T20Is at an economy rate of less than 6 exactly what Phoenix are looking for. The rest of the pack has some talented domestic players including Tom Abell, Will Smeed, and Miles Hammond.

Key Players: Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, Daniel Bell-Drummond

Birmingham Phoenix Predicted Playing XI:

Moeen Ali (captain), Chris Woakes, Dom Sibley, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Miles Hammond, Adam Milne, Imran Tahir, Finn Allen, Liam Livingstone, Tom Abell, Will Smeed

London Spirit Preview

London Spirit will be led by Eoin Morgan in the first few games. Spirit won't miss many players like Morgan and Zak Crawley are the only two players who are set to leave for their international commitments. London Spirit have hit a jackpot landing the hottest prospect - Josh Inglis in the limited-overs game right now in county cricket. Inglis is the leading run-scorer of the Vitality Blast and has amassed 531 runs in 14 games at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 175.82. This also includes 2 unbeaten centuries for Leicestershire. He will open the innings with Crawley in their pack. who has 326 runs in 9 Vitality Blast games at a strike rate of 159.80 for Kent.

Morgan, who missed the ODI series against Pakistan due to Covid norms, made a comeback in T20Is. Though he didn’t get much time, his short innings proved worth in winning the series. And then, he is A World Cup winning captain. So it's safe to say Spirits are in good hands. Well, Inglis is not the only hot prospect associated with London. They have Middlesex bowler Blake Cullen in their pack. Cullen has picked 20 wickets this season at an average of 16.35. Cullen will team up with Mohammad Amir and Mark Wood in the bowling department. London has probably one of the best all-rounder teams at their helm. Mohammad Nabi and Roelf Van Der Merwe are set to blaze The Hundred stage. 

Key Players: Josh Inglis, Blake Cullen, Mohammad Amir

London Spirit Predicted Playing XI:

Eoin Morgan (captain), Zak Crawley, Dan Lawrence, Mohammad Amir, Jade Dernbach, Mohammad Nabi, Mason Crane, Joe Denly, Josh Inglis, Roelof Van Der Merwe, Mark Wood, Blake Cullen

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The wicket generates a lot more pace and helps fast bowlers. The weather will be partly cloudy throughout the day. The temperature will vary between 14°C to 26°C. The wind will be blowing at 20 km/h. It will be a bit humid between 60 to 74 percent. 80% chance of the rain is predicted in the later stage of the day.

Venue Details

The venue for this match is Edgbaston, Birmingham . It has a capacity of 21000 spectators. Edgbaston is home to Birmingham County Cricket Club and has been an international cricket venue since 1902. So far 53 Tests, 64 ODIs and 5 T20Is have been played here. The venue is famous for hosting the 1999 ICC World Cup semi final between Australia and South Africa.

Toss: To Bat

The ground has seen more successful defense in the past. In T20Is the team batting first has won the matches on all the occasions.  Therefore, the team winning the toss should bat first. In domestic T20s, the team batting first has seen victory 39 times out of 72 occasions.