Oval Invincibles vs Birmingham Phoenix Prediction and Betting Tips: Three bets for The Hundred opener

The 2024 season of The Hundred starts on Tuesday at The Oval, which hosts the men's and women's fixtures between Oval Invincibles and Birmingham Phoenix.

The Invincibles Men are defending the title they won at Lord's last summer and former England T20 batsman Dawid Malan and ace Australia leg-spinner Adam Zampa are exciting additions to their squad.

Birmingham Phoenix Women lost all seven of their completed matches last year but they are expected to be far more competitive this season with Australian superstar Ellyse Perry taking over the captaincy.

Oval Invincibles Women won The Hundred in the competition's first two years, 2021 and 2022, but they face a tricky opening assignment against Birmingham Phoenix Women.

While the Phoenix failed to win a game last summer, they were rarely outclassed by their opponents and three of their seven losses were by a three-run margin.

One of those narrow defeats came against champions Southern Brave and the Birmingham-based franchise could get back to winning ways at the first attempt in 2024.

Perry, arguably the greatest female cricketer of her generation, should receive solid support from experienced New Zealand internationals Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine while England wicketkeeper-batter Amy Jones is another classy player in the Phoenix squad.

The Invincibles also had a disappointing 2023 season, winning only three of their eight matches to finish four points adrift of the play-off places, and they look vulnerable favourites on Tuesday.

Like his England teammate Curran, Moeen Ali warmed up for The Hundred with a century in the T20 Blast and the veteran is worth backing to hit the most sixes for Birmingham Phoenix at The Oval.

Moeen was also short of runs at the T20 World Cup but he has enjoyed a couple of morale-boosting innings for Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston this month.

He hit four sixes in a 32-ball 59 against Derbyshire before a blistering 103 off 59 balls against Leicestershire on Friday as the Bears sealed top spot in the North Group.

Moeen's ton included nine sweetly-struck sixes and he is a big price to clear the ropes more often than his Phoenix teammates, with fellow England international Liam Livingstone rated the biggest threat in the market.

Oval Invincibles Men showcased their batting depth in last year's final, recovering from 32-5 to 161-5 thanks to excellent half-centuries from Tom Curran and Jimmy Neesham.

Curran's younger brother Sam is an eye-catching price to top-score in their opening game of 2024, having hit his first career T20 century in Surrey's Blast win over Hampshire at The Oval earlier this month.

His unbeaten 102, from just 58 balls, featured six sixes and was a welcome landmark for Curran, who had a quiet T20 World Cup campaign with the bat for England.

However, he scored 63 not out to lead Punjab Kings to victory over Rajasthan Royals in his final appearance of the IPL season and cracked 59 off 42 deliveries against T20 Blast holders Somerset on his return from the World Cup.