The Hundred - Cricket: Trent Rockets v London Spirit preview

bet365 News Team Published: Aug 19 2022 11:50

An exciting men's clash in The Hundred is in prospect on Saturday evening when in-form Trent Rockets welcome unbeaten London Spirit to Trent Bridge.

The star-studded Rockets have won four of their first five matches this season although they face a resurgent Spirit side, who finished bottom of the table in 2021 but have won all four of their games this time around.

What	Trent Rockets Men vs. London Spirit Men, The Hundred
Where	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
When	19:00, Saturday 20th August 2022
How to watch	Sky Sports Cricket, Main Event & Mix
Odds	Trent Rockets Men 4/5, London Spirit Men 1/1

Trent Rockets aiming to extend impressive home record

Eoin Morgan famously transformed England's ODI team from also-rans to world champions and he seems to be doing a similar job with London Spirit in this season's men's Hundred.

The Spirit lost six of their seven completed matches in last summer's inaugural 100-ball tournament but they have won four out of four this term going into Saturday's fixture at Trent Rockets.

The Rockets are full of confidence themselves, having won four of their first five matches this summer, and they are 4/5 for a victory that would take them above 1/1 visitors London Spirit at the top of the table.

Trent suffered their first defeat of the campaign away to a powerful Birmingham Phoenix side on Monday but they bounced back two days later with an impressive win over Oval Invincibles, who had won their previous three matches.

As so often this season, openers Alex Hales (59 off 29 balls) and Dawid Malan (38) played significant roles in the Rockets' success, propelling them to a competitive total of 181-4.

Spinners Tabraiz Shamsi and Samit Patel then put the skids on the Invincibles, recording combined figures of 3-46 from 40 balls, and even table-topping London Spirit will be wary of a trip to Trent Bridge, where the Rockets have won five of their six Hundred matches over the past two season.

Related The Hundred News

The Hundred - Cricket: Who has done the best business?

The Hundred - Cricket: Top five new signings

Maxwell departure is a blow for in-form London Spirit

London Spirit opener Adam Rossington smashed a 15-ball half-century, the fastest in Hundred history, as they eased to a seven-wicket win over Northern Superchargers last weekend and he is 15/4 to be his side's top batter on Saturday.

Glenn Maxwell also lit up Leeds with a brilliant all-round display in his final appearance of the season for the Spirit. The Australian conceded only six runs from 15 balls, claiming the crucial wicket of Adam Lyth for a duck, before scoring 43 not out off 25 balls in the run-chase.

Maxwell has left to join up with Australia's ODI squad and his absence is a major blow for Morgan's men. As well as his tidy off-spin bowling, he is the only London Spirit batter to reach 100 runs in their first four matches.

Indeed, Rossington's 66 last time out was the Spirit's only half-century of the Hundred (Hales and Malan have scored two apiece for the Rockets) but Trent Bridge tends to be a good venue for batters and it is 5/6 that the highest individual score is over 64.5.

What	Trent Rockets Women vs. London Spirit Women, The Hundred
Where	Trent Bridge, Nottingham
When	15:30, Saturday 20th August 2022
How to watch	Sky Sports Cricket, Main Event & Mix
Odds	Trent Rockets Women 8/11, London Spirit Women 1/1

Australia star Mooney needs support from Spirit teammates

London Spirit Women have lost their first two games of the Hundred season, the second a narrow five-run defeat at Northern Superchargers, and they are 1/1 to break their duck against 4/5 hosts Trent Rockets.

The Spirit were well beaten by Southern Brave in their first game at the Rose Bowl despite a terrific innings of 97 not out from Australian opener Beth Mooney and they blew a great chance of victory against the Superchargers last weekend.

Chasing a modest target of 128, Mooney and Grace Scrivens shared an opening stand of 48 off 36 balls but regular wickets, including two damaging run-outs, meant they came up just short at Headingley.

Mooney is 7/4 to be the Spirit's top batter for the third game running and opening partner Scrivens is an interesting price at 14/1 to be named the Match Hero. The 18-year-old off-spinning all-rounder is a great prospect and, as well as opening the batting for the Spirit, she took 1-5 from ten balls in the loss at Leeds.

Opponents Trent Rockets have made a patchy start, with one win and two defeats, but their team is packed with international experience including England stalwarts Nat Sciver and Katherine Brunt and South Africa batter Mignon du Preez.

Australia leg-spinner Alana King took 4-15, including a hat-trick, in their first game as they bowled out Manchester Originals for just 76 but their bowlers were unable to defend targets of 117 and 113 in their next two fixtures against Birmingham Phoenix and Oval Invincibles.

Sciver's unbeaten 59 against the Invincibles is comfortably the Rockets' highest individual score of the season and the skipper is 12/5 to be their top batter against London.

King, who has enjoyed a glorious year since making her international debut in January, conceded just eight runs in 20 balls against the Invincibles in her first appearance at Trent Bridge and is worth considering at 7/1 in the Match Hero market.