BPH vs LNS Prediction: Who will win today's The Hundred Men's match?
The Birmingham Phoenix are set to take on the London Spirit in the second match of The Hundred Men's 2021 on Friday. The match will take place at Edgbaston in Birmingham.
The Spirit, led by Zak Crawley, have an experienced squad to work with in the Hundred. The skipper himself must be high on confidence after an impressive showing in the ODI series against Babar Azam’s Pakistan. In his maiden ODI, he churned out a match-winning half-century.
The team also has two of the most prolific white-ball cricketers in Eoin Morgan and Mohammad Amir. Morgan knows the art of absorbing pressure, having also played a World Cup final. Although he isn’t the captain, his inputs will hold a lot of importance for the Spirit in the Hundred.
Amir is most likely to lead the bowling attack, keeping in mind his stupendous numbers for Pakistan. Roelof van der Merwe and Mohammad Nabi are also tried-and-tested customers on the T20 circuit. Meanwhile, Jos Inglis scored two tons in the T20 Blast 2021 and he should be high on confidence going into the Hundred.
In Ravi Bopara, the Spirit have a seasoned all-rounder in their ranks for the Hundred. Joe Denly, Jade Dernbach, and Mark Wood bring in a lot of utility to the team.
The Phoenix aren’t short of firepower either. The team is led by Chris Woakes, who has performed consistently for the Brits at the highest level. Moeen Ali put forth all-round shows in the T20Is against Pakistan and he needs to step up as well.
Finn Allen has grabbed the headlines over the last year because of his ability to play the big shots and he is likely to open the batting for the Phoenix. Lancashire batter Liam Livingstone will also be brimming with confidence after his maiden T20I ton earlier this month.
Benny Howell is both amongst the runs and wickets and his role in the game will be critical. In Imran Tahir, the Phoenix have a genuine wicket-taker up their sleeves for the Hundred. Not only can Tahir pick up wickets, but he also put the brakes on the oppositions’ run-scoring.
Can the Phoenix beat the Spirit?
Edgbaston recently hosted the third ODI between Pakistan and England, where both teams scored in excess of 300 runs. However, it was the English who tracked down the target to win the game. The pitch may not change a lot during the course of the game.
Both Spirit and Phoenix have power-packed batting units and, therefore, won’t mind chasing targets. The bowlers are expected to have a tough day in the office in the upcoming game of the Hundred.
Prediction: The team batting second are likely to win the match