Warwickshire vs Essex, Vitality T20 Blast Prediction: Who will win today's Quarter-Final 1?
It has all come down to the wire as Warwickshire prepares to lock horns in the blockbuster Quarter final 1 on Thursday, June 6th at Edgbaston. The Bears have emerged on top of the North Group Points Table with 11 wins to their name and an astounding NRR of 0.819. Essex on the other hand, ended 4th in the South Group Points Table with 8 wins and a NRR of 0.088.
Warwickshire had a dream run in this year’s T20 blast competition. They have looked by far the most invincible side from the North Group Division. Led by skipper Alex Davies, the team has been on top of their game and bamboozled nearly every opponent they faced. They have managed to steamroll teams by a colossal margin and at the same time succeeded in closing out intense thrillers.
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They have only tasted defeat thrice in this competition, both of which came against Derbyshire while one came against Nottingham. Barring these defeats, the team has done extremely well to dominate right throughout the tournament. Derbyshire was the only team who successfully managed to challenge the Bears this season.
Other teams have simply been deflated by the sheer domination displayed by the Warwickshire this season. Sam Hain and Robert Yates are in top form with the bat this season, averaging 107.25 and 40.64 respectively. Dan Mousley and Danny Briggs have been the leading wicket-takers for Bears this season with 20 and 14 wickets whilst averaging 16.45 and 19.21 respectively.
Essex have managed to scrap their way through the Quarter finals but haven’t been in their prime best in the last few games. They have lost four of their last five games. They managed to finish in the fourth spot with eight wins in 14 games.
They were quite fortunate to end up on the winning side in a very tense do-or-die contest against Surrey. Feroze Khushi hit an unbelievable last-ball six to power Essex into the knockout phase of the tournament. Hampshire has been their nemesis who have handed them heavy defeats this season.
They first went down to them by a gigantic margin of 118 runs and later faltered with their bowling which allowed Hampshire to snatch a four-wicket win in the last over of the match. Their biggest victory in terms of runs came against Glamorgan where a blitzkrieg innings from Michael Pepper and Paul Walter allowed Essex to post a near-impossible total for Glamorgan to chase.
Michael-Kyle Pepper and Daniel Sams have been in scintillating form with the bat this season with a jaw-dropping strike rate in excess of 170. Sams has also been the highest wicket-taker for them with 22 wickets under his belt which includes his best bowling figures of 4/20. Matt Critchley has also impressed us all with the ball with 20 wickets and one 5-wicket haul to his name.
2023 T20 Vitality Blast: Can Warwickshire beat Essex?
Given the form Warwickshire is currently in, they enter this fixture as obvious favorites. Essex have also looked formidable this season but they do not have a very impressive win record as Warwickshire. Essex have an uphill battle ahead of them as they come head-to-head against the best side from the North Group division.
Prediction: Warwickshire to win this Q1 T20 Blast match.