London Spirit vs Birmingham Phoenix Prediction and Betting Tips: Three bets for The Hundred clash
Two teams who lost their opening fixtures meet on Saturday in a crunch clash at Lord’s, as the London Spirit play host to the Birmingham Phoenix. Both sides were well beaten in their Hundred openers and all eyes will be on how they perform on Saturday, with a 18:35 start time at the home of cricket. Saturday’s men’s fixture will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Cricket and Sky Sports Mix.
London Spirit vs Birmingham Phoenix Tips
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Phoenix strong enough to bounce back
Having been talked up as contenders, the Birmingham Phoenix couldn’t have got their campaign off to a worse start.
Daniel Vettori’s men made just 89 in their opener with the Oval Invincibles and faced only 81 balls in an eight-wicket loss in south London.
With Moeen Ali, Tom Southee and Liam Livingstone in their line-up, expect a response from the Phoenix.
The London Spirit lost their fixture by seven wickets against the Southern Brave, with the bowling department looking like a concern.
The Spirit took only three wickets and the Brave reached their target with 11 balls to spare.
It’s also worth noting that Birmingham ran out 77-run victors when these sides met at Edgbaston last year.
These teams both finished in the bottom three of the standings last year, but Birmingham’s line-up arguably looks stronger 12 months on.
When they met last season, the Phoenix cruised to victory on their home ground after smashing 185 off their 100 balls, a total which is inside the top 15 scores in the Hundred.
Birmingham then reduced the Spirit to just 108, with Adam Milne taking four wickets in his 20 balls – including the scalps of Zak Crawley, Matthew Wade and Dan Lawrence.
Only skipper Lawrence remains from that trio and, in contrast, New Zealand seamer Southee has switched teams to the Phoenix.
Vettori’s squad have lost Ben Duckett to England duty, but their batting line-up is much better than the first game suggested.
The last time these sides met at Lord’s was in 2022, when Birmingham won again – this time by one wicket.
England white-ball star Moeen made a frustrating start to this year’s Hundred, with the Phoenix captain making just one with the bat.
The 37-year-old is Birmingham’s second highest runscorer since the tournament began - he has tallied a total 486 in 22 innings at an average of 22.09.
After a disappointing opening performance with the bat, the Phoenix could be tempted to tweak with the order and that could mean Moeen moves up a place or two.
The England all-rounder batted at five against the Invincibles and came in at four when these teams met last year – and he smashed 32 off 14 deliveries on that occasion.
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