Birmingham Phoenix Men start their 2026 campaign in The Hundred against last season's runners-up Trent Rockets Men at Edgbaston.
An injury to captain Jacob Bethell disrupted the Phoenix's build-up, but the Rockets' new skipper Sam Billings led MI London to the title in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Birmingham Phoenix Men v Trent Rockets Men Tips Summary
Best Bet - Ben Duckett top Trent Rockets batter @ 3/1
Alternative Bet - Will Smeed over 0.5 sixes @ 4/6
Bet Builder - Trent Rockets to win, Will Smeed 20+ runs & Ben Sanderson 2+ wickets @ 7/1
Birmingham Phoenix Men v Trent Rockets Men Prediction
Best Bet: Ben Duckett top Trent Rockets batter @ 3/1
Ben Duckett had a tough time at the top of the order for the Phoenix in The Hundred last season.
However, England's Test opener remains a top-class white-ball player and he should enjoy his return to Edgbaston as a Trent Rockets player.
Duckett finished this summer's Test series against New Zealand with a stirring century at Trent Bridge.
His final innings before The Hundred was 141 off 135 balls in England's ODI series decider against India at Lord's last Sunday.
That provided Duckett with another confidence boost and he should outperform market leader Finn Allen, who had a poor Major League Cricket campaign in June and July.
The New Zealand international scored 190 runs in 12 innings for San Francisco Unicorns, passing 20 only three times.
Alternative Bet: Will Smeed over 0.5 sixes @ 4/6
Trent Rockets are worthy favourites to make a winning start in The Hundred, but they should be wary of Phoenix opener Will Smeed.
He was the first player to score a century in the 100-ball competition, finishing unbeaten on 101 against Southern Brave at Edgbaston in August 2022.
And Smeed comes into the 2026 season in good spirits after a run of impressive T20 Blast performances for Somerset.
He hit 20 sixes in 10 Blast innings and has cleared the ropes 27 times in 29 innings in The Hundred.
Birmingham Phoenix Men v Trent Rockets Men Bet Builder Tip
Trent Rockets to win
Will Smeed 20+ runs
Ben Sanderson 2+ wickets
Pays @ 7/1
Sam Billings is the most successful captain in the history of The Hundred and he should enjoy a winning debut as Trent Rockets skipper.
Birmingham Phoenix opener Smeed may cause Billings the odd headache, having scored 94 and 49 in his last two T20 Blast Finals Day innings for Somerset at Edgbaston.
Rockets seamer Ben Sanderson starred in Northamptonshire's Blast triumph this summer, claiming 4-20 in the quarter-final, 3-28 in the semi-final and 2-26 against Hampshire in the final.
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Key Match Stats
Birmingham Phoenix scored only 122-6 and 111-9 in last season's defeats to Trent Rockets
Phoenix opener Will Smeed made 48, 89, 46, 52, 21 and 49 in his last six T20 Blast innings for Somerset
The Phoenix have won three of their four home fixtures against the Rockets
Trent Rockets won seven of their last 10 matches in The Hundred
Rockets seamer Ben Sanderson took nine wickets in three T20 Blast knockout games for Northamptonshire
Rockets opener Ben Duckett scored only 123 runs in eight innings for Birmingham Phoenix last season
Tactics, Form and Team News
Birmingham Phoenix Men captain Bethell has been ruled out of The Hundred due to a knee injury, so South Africa's Donovan Ferreira will lead the side.
Bangladesh paceman Mustafizur Rahman is unlikely to feature on Friday as he continues his recovery from hamstring and knee problems.
Expected Phoenix XI: 1 Will Smeed, 2 Mitchell Owen, 3 Joe Clarke (wk), 4 Sean Dickson, 5 Laurie Evans, 6 Donovan Ferreira (c), 7 Rehan Ahmed, 8 Scott Currie, 9 Usman Tariq, 10 Saqib Mahmood, 11 Chris Wood.
Trent Rockets Men signed former Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Amir after David Payne pulled out of the tournament with an ankle injury.
Amir is registered as a domestic player, so the Rockets can select Finn Allen, Tim David, Mitchell Santner and Matt Henry to fill their four overseas slots.
Rockets expected XI: 1 Finn Allen, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Tom Banton (wk), 4 Sam Billings (c), 5 Tim David, 6 Dan Mousley, 7 Craig Overton, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Matt Henry, 10 Ben Sanderson, 11 Mohammad Amir.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
