Fans of Manchester Originals and Welsh Fire will not be impressed with how the 2022 season has started with both sides yet to pick up a win in either the men's or women's tournaments.
Therefore, something's got to give on Tuesday when the teams clash in both tournaments at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Manchester Originals Men are 8/11 to get the win over Welsh Fire Men, who can be backed at 11/10, in the evening game, while Manchester Originals Women are 10/11 and Welsh Fire Women are 10/11 in the afternoon fixture.
What | Manchester Originals Men v Welsh Fire, The Hundred |
| Where | Old Trafford |
| When | 18.30, Tuesday 16th August 2022 |
How to watch | Sky Sports Main Event / Cricket |
| Odds | Manchester Originals Men 8/11, Welsh Fire 11/10 |
Originals Men can get first win on the board
Manchester Originals Men would have felt confident of landing their first win in The Hundred this year when they finished on 189-3 - the second-highest ever total scored in the men's competition - against Trent Rockets on Saturday.
But, incredibly, the Nottingham side managed to chase down that total with six balls to spare, meaning the Originals have now lost all three of their opening matches in The Hundred this season.
Before that gut-punching loss to the Rockets, the Originals lost by 52 runs to London Spirit and by six wickets to Northern Superchargers and they look set for a similar campaign to last year, when they finished sixth out of eight in the standings.
However, their upcoming opponents Welsh Fire have also lost all three of their matches, posting only 126-5 in their most recent loss to Birmingham Phoenix on Saturday, and they have less going for them at the crease than the Originals.
The absence of Jonny Bairstow for this season's competition has not helped their cause, given they won only one of their six matches without him last year, and the Originals are worth a bet at 8/11 to record their first win of the campaign against Fire.
The Originals have plenty of power in their batting line-up and the standout performer so far this season has been Phil Salt, who has struck 107 runs from 82 balls in the tournament.
The bulk of them came against the Rockets as he racked up an unbeaten 70 and he is worth a bet to score over 19.5 runs at 8/11.
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What | Manchester Originals Women v Welsh Fire Women, The Hundred |
| Where | Old Trafford |
| When | 15.00, Tuesday 16th August 2022 |
How to watch | Sky Sports Main Event / Cricket |
| Odds | Manchester Originals Women 10/11, Welsh Fire Women 10/11 |
Reinforcements should give Welsh Fire Women the edge
Like in the men's tournament, both Manchester Originals Women and Welsh Fire Women have made losing starts to The Hundred this year.
But the Fire looked a touch stronger in their opener, losing by only 19 runs on Saturday against a strong Birmingham Phoenix side expected to go far.
On the same day, the Originals crumbled at home to Trent Rockets, having been bowled out for only 76.
Emma Lamb and Deandra Dottin were surprisingly poor in that match with both going for ducks and Rockets spin bowler Alana King was the star of the show, becoming the first woman to take a hat-trick in The Hundred.
Welsh Fire were poor in the inaugural edition of The Hundred last year, losing six of their eight matches but one of the two victories they did pick up came against the Originals.
And Fire have a much better look about them this year with Tammy Beaumont brought in as captain and West Indies spinner Hayley Matthews among their other shrewd acquisitions.
Fire's top order looks particularly strong with each of their top five batters having made double figures in the defeat to Phoenix last time out and Beaumont was unsurprisingly their top runscorer.
Beaumont last represented England's Twenty20 side back in January this year but was fairly reliable when playing for London Spirit in The Hundred in 2021, scoring 139 runs in her six innings.
That gave the top-order batter an average of 23.16 in the competition - far from barnstorming but high enough to warrant backing her to surpass her runs line of 21.5 at 5/6 when her Fire side take on the Originals on Tuesday.
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