Middlesex vs Hampshire, VITALITY T20 BLAST 2020, Today Match Prediction 12 Sep 2020

mdx vs ham Match Prediction & Analysis

Vitality T20 Blast is half-way through the league phase with every team facing each other in the first round-robin matches. Now, teams will face off each other for the second time and will look to get over the other teams and end in the top half of the points table. Middlesex and Hampshire are currently struggling at the bottom half of the points table with more losses and wins. Both teams will need to come up with spirited performances to resurrect their campaign soon as they would miss the cut for qualification if they fail to win the coming matches. A victory in this match will be a big boost for these two struggling teams.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Middlesex Preview

Middlesex were reduced for a paltry score of 113/9 in their 20 overs against Surrey in their last match. Max Holden top scored with 29 runs and only three other batsmen managed to cross the double-digit mark. Steve Eskinazi and Max Holden feature among the top-5 run-getters of this season.  

Bowlers Steve Finn and Nathan Sowter came with a bang in the power play to reduce the opposition to 23/4 inside 5 overs. Tom Helm and Luke Hollman chipped with economical spells but they were never really going to stop the opposition in the paltry chase as they needed was just one good partnership.

Top players to bet on:

Steve Eskinazi – Eskinazi has 240 runs at a strike rate of 150+ so far this season. He has 3 fifties in the five matches and will look to continue his good form with the bat.

Steve Finn – Finn is the team`s leading wicket-taker with 9 wickets at an economy rate of just 6.75 RPO. He bowled a fighting spell of 4-0-21-2 even in a low-scoring encounter last night.

Middlesex Predicted Playing XI:

Max Holden, Stephen Eskinazi, Martin Andersson, Jack Davies, John Simpson (wk), Dan Lincoln, James Harris, Luke Hollman, Steven Finn (c), Tom Helm, Nathan Sowter

Middlesex Actual Playing XI:

Max Holden, Dan Lincoln, Tom Helm, Martin Andersson, Miguel Cummins, Tim Murtagh, Stephen Eskinazi, John Simpson, Nathan Sowter, Jack Davies, ST Finn

Hampshire Preview

Hampshire failed to chase 160 runs against Sussex last night. Tom Alsop waged a lone battle scoring 43 runs off 37 balls while the rest of batsmen got starts but failed to convert them into a substantial score.  Hampshire`s batting unit must stand up to contribute more to the team in this match.

Chris Wood and Ian Holland were good with the ball as they had combined figures of 8-0-58-3 in the match. Shaheen Afridi and Calvin Harrison gave runs at over 9 RPO and failed to stop the run flow at crucial moments. Mason crane bowled economically giving runs at less than 6 RPO.

Top players to bet on:

Tom Alsop – Alsop is the team`s leading run-scorer with 128 runs so far this season. He is not getting the crucial support from the other end to build partnerships in the middle so far. We expect him to make a fifty in this match.

Mason Crane – Mason Crane has 5 wickets at an economy rate of just 5.2 RPO. He bowled a superb spell of 4-0-22-0 in the last match despite the opposition batsmen trying to target him  

Hampshire Predicted Playing XI:

James Vince (c), Tom Alsop, Sam Northeast, Joe Weatherley, James Fuller, Lewis McManus (wk), Ian Holland, Calvin Harrison, Chris Wood, Mason Crane, Shaheen Afridi

Hampshire Actual Playing XI:

Ryan Stevenson, James Vince, Ian Holland, Joe Weatherley, CP Wood, Mason Crane, Sam Northeast, Shaheen Afridi, James Fuller, Lewis McManus, Tom Alsop

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

London will have a sunny and bright day with just 10% chances of rain. We don’t expect rain to make a big mark in this match and hope for an uninterrupted match.

Venue Details

Lord`s has been a good batting track with the ball coming onto the bat nicely. All the innings played here so far have been 160+ scores with 200-run mark breached twice in same match.  We expect average scores to be around 160-180 runs.  

Toss: To Bowl

A 200+ total was almost chased down here this season (the match ended as a tie) and the pitch remain good for batting in both the innings. We expect both captains to field first if they win the toss.