BIP vs WEF Match Preview
The Birmingham Phoenix team played their last game in the competition against Manchester Originals. This was the 10th match of the competition and was played on 7th August at Manchester. The Birmingham Originals team batted first to score 160 runs from their quota of 20 overs for the loss of 8 wickets. The Birmingham Phoenix reply was well short of the target as they were bowled out for a paltry total of 111 runs. Usama Mir from Manchester Originals was adjudged player of the match for his 32 runs from 14 balls and a 2-wicket haul for 27 runs.
During the Manchester innings, Benny Howell was the most successful bowler picking up 3 wickets for 21 runs from his 20 balls. Adam Milne was also successful in picking up 2 wickets from his 20 balls but he gave away 33 runs in the process. Tom Helm also picked up one wicket from his 15 balls. All the Phoenix bowlers except Benny Howell and Dan Mousley went for a lot of runs. The Phoenix response against the Manchester bowling attack was poor, to say the least. None of the batters except Liam Livingstone could put together a decent total.
The batter to watch out for in this game is Luke Wells from Welsh Fire. He has succeeded in putting together 93 runs from his last 3 matches with an average of 31. This opening batsman is the top run-scorer for the Welsh Fire team. Wells also is the second-highest run-scorer in the 2023 edition of the competition. In their first match of the season, Luke Wells scored a half-century and his team managed to win the game by a margin of 9 runs. It is expected that he will bring his power-hitting capabilities to this game and will help his side earn their first win over Phoenix.
The key bowler for the Welsh Fire team in this contest is the Pakistani fast bowler, Shaheen Afridi. This lanky fast bowler is the leading wicket-taker in the competition and has picked up 5 wickets from 3 matches with an average of 12.40. He is currently bowling with an economy rate of 7.44. In his first game of The Hundred, he managed to collect a couple of victims against Manchester Originals. These two wickets were collected from the first two balls he bowled. Afridi will be leaking his lips to bowl yet another great spell in these conditions.
Weather Report
The weather bureau has reported the conditions to be nice and warm with some intermittent periods of sun and clouds.
Pitch Report
The average first innings score at the venue of Edgbaston is 161 runs in men's Hundred. This score is relatively low at 131 runs for the second innings at this venue. The topmost score posted at the venue for this competition is 184 runs for the loss of 5 wickets by the Birmingham outfit against Welsh Fire in the 2021 season. Either team playing in this competition will look to set a score of close to 150 to 160 runs.
It is a fact that the Edgbaston wicket is a batting-friendly one. However, it will offer some help to the seamers especially early on in the competition. After the wicket has settled down a bit, batsmen can enjoy the conditions at the venue. All seamers will struggle to achieve movement if the weather conditions are clear. There will not be any help on offer from the track.
Notable stats
Luke Wells has a terrific strike rate.
Luke Wells has an average of 31 and a strike rate of 189.79 in his 3 appearances for Welsh Fire this season.
Tom Helm has a great strike rate with the ball.
Tom Helm has picked up 15 wickets from his last 10 games with a strike rate of 10.46.
Team News
There are no apparent injury worries for either of the team managements thus far. So, entire sides will be available for selection for this contest.
BIP vs WEF Probable 11
BIP Playing 11
- Will Smeed
- Ben Duckett
- Moeen Ali (C)
- Liam Livingstone
- Jamie Smith (Wk)
- Dan Mousley
- Shadab Khan
- Benny Howell
- Adam Milne
- Tom Helm
- Kane Richardson
WEF Playing 11
- Luke Wells
- Joe Clarke (Wk)
- Stephen Eskinazi
- Tom Abell (C)
- Glenn Phillips
- David Willey
- Ben Green
- Roelof van der Merwe
- David Payne
- Shaheen Afridi
- Haris Rauf
Dream11 Prediction
If you take a look at the last couple of matches played between Birmingham and Welsh, you will find that Birmingham Phoenix has come out trumps in both these games. However, these things are likely to change during the season for Birmingham due to the lack of sufficient contributions from the batters. These batters have a challenge on their hands against the in-form Welsh Fire fast bowling unit. However, the Welsh Fire batting has also struggled, but their bowling units provide an edge to their team. We reckon Birmingham Pheonix to win this game and consolidate their position in the points table.
Top Picks
Liam Livingstone: Liam Livingstone has scored 200 runs in his last 7 appearances for Birmingham Phoenix with an average of 33.33 and a strike rate of 138.88.
Tom Helm: Tom Helm has collected a haul of 15 wickets from his last 10 matches with a strike rate of 10.46.
Kane Richardson: Kane Richardson has picked up 13 scalps from 9 matches with a strike rate of 11.53.
Luke Wells: Luke Wells has collected 93 runs so far from 3 games with a strike rate of 189.79.
BIP vs WEF Dream11 Team 1
Keeper: J Clarke
Batters: B Duckett, L Livingstone, S Eskinazi, G Phillips
All-rounders: D Willey (C), B Howell
Bowlers: A Milne, K Richardson, S Afridi (VC), H Rauf
