Essex vs Middlesex, VITALITY T20 BLAST 2020, Today Match Prediction 27 Aug 2020

ess vs mdx Match Prediction & Analysis

Vitality T20 Blast, the oldest T20 league is back for the 18th season this time. Defending Champions face their South group opponent’s Middlesex in their opening encounter to start their campaign. The T20 Blast is deprived of a lot of international stars this season due to the pandemic and it provides a great opportunity for the English players to showcase their talents. Essex will look to continue their 10-match unbeaten streak with a win in their opening match and continue their dominance. Middlesex on the other end will look to announce themselves by toppling the Essex team.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Essex Preview

Essex has a strong top order with the likes of Tom Westley, Cameron Delport, and Daniel Lawrence and each of them scored over 350+ runs last season to lead them to title victory. Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate took over finishing duties with crucial cameos to end their innings on a high.

Skipper Simon Harmer will marshal the bowling troops around him and he was their highest wicket-taker last season with 17 wickets. Young pace trio of Jamie Porter, Samuel Cook, and Aaron Beard are expected to take over the pace bowling attack this season in the absence of Mohammed Amir.

Top players to bet on:

Ravi Bopara – Ravi Bopra provides great balance to the playing XI with his batting and bowling capabilities. He scored 291 runs at a strike rate of 160+ and took 12 wickets at an economy rate of 7.5 RPO last season.

Cameron Delport – Cameron Delport was the star with the bat last season scoring 409 runs at a strike rate of 160+ with a century and 3 fifties to his name. He will look to lead their team`s batting in their title defense too.  

Essex Predicted Playing XI:

Tom Westley, Cameron Delport, Dan Lawrence, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adam Wheater (Wk), Paul Walter, Simon Harmer (C), Jamie Porter, Aaron Beard, Sam Cook

Essex Actual Playing XI:

Aaron Beard, Cameron Delport, Paul Walter, Daniel Lawrence, Varun Chopra, RN ten Doeschate, Tom Westley, Matthew Quinn, Adam Wheater, SR Harmer, Shane Snater

Middlesex Preview

Middlesex are the hardest hit team due to the non-availability of international stars as the will miss the services of AB De Villiers, Eoin Morgan, and Mujeeb Ur Rehman. Dawid Malan will miss the early part of the tournament owing to his national commitments. Max Holden, Steve Eskinazi, and Nick Gubbins have the big responsibility of leading their batting unit.

They have strong pace bowling attack with the likes of Tom Helm, Steve Finn, and Toby Roland James who took 50+ wickets amongst themselves last season. Nathan Sowter will their No.1 spinner in the absence of Mujeeb & Hafeez in the team.

Top players to bet on:

Steve Eskinaki – Eskinazi will look to take responsibility in the batting line-up with the absence of regular players and must contribute heavily. He scored 256 runs at a strike rate of 130 last season.

Nathan Sowter – Sowter is one of the exciting leg-spinner in the England circuit and he took 16 wickets at an economy rate of 8.4 RPO last season. He will look to perform well and catch the eye of the selectors ahead of the sub-continental tours alter this year.

Middlesex Predicted Playing XI:

Max Holden, Nick Gubbins, Stevie Eskinazi (C), Martin Andersson, Dan Lincoln, John Simpson (Wk), James Harris, Toby Roland-Jones, Tom Helm, Nathan Sowter, Steve Finn

Middlesex Actual Playing XI:

Nick Gubbins, Miguel Cummins, Stephen Eskinazi, John Simpson, James Harris, Martin Andersson, Max Holden, Dan Lincoln, Nathan Sowter, ST Finn, Tom Helm

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

Chelmsford has 50% chances of rain as per the weather forecasters and we expect it won’t make a big impact in the game.

Venue Details

Chemlsford is a high scoring venue where teams scored overs 180 runs consistently last year. Team’s even scored over 200+ runs twice in 4 matches. Pacers might enjoy a bit of swing early on due to the overcast conditions and spinners will look to contain the batsmen with probing line and lengths.

Toss: To Bowl

The pitch is expected to be good for batting and chasing will be best option considering rain threat looming around.