London Spirit v Birmingham Phoenix preview and best bets for The Hundred

London Spirit and Birmingham Phoenix both need to bounce back from heavy opening-match defeats when they meet in The Hundred on Saturday, 6.35pm, UK time.

Both remain capable of better, but the Phoenix have struggled with the bat for a while now and low scores are becoming a worrying trend for a batting line-up that stacks up well on paper but has generally disappointed.

I had hoped for better from Spirit this term, but they were firmly put in their place by Southern Brave earlier in the week, never recovering from losing a spate of early wickets.

One of those wickets to fall was key man MICHAEL PEPPER, but he is given another chance in the top London Spirit batsman market.

Pepper has been one of the success stories of the English summer, making two hundreds in the T20 Blast on his way to amassing 535 runs at an average of 44.58.

His strike-rate in the Blast this season is an impressive 193.84, confirming what a dangerous operator the Essex man is, and I’m keen to stick with him while 4/1 is generally available.

It’s worth reaffirming the point that Pepper, like anyone else, can fall early, but he does tend to go big once set.

Here’s hoping he can get himself in and lay the foundations for another sizeable contribution on Saturday night.

Posted at 0730 BST on 26/07/24

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