Vitality Blast Daily Betting Tips & Preview
The Vitality T20 Blast competition of 2021 is a domestic tournament played in England and Wales. 133 T20 matches in total will be played between June 9th and September 18th 2021. This year a change has been made to the format, meaning that the Central Group that consisted of Gloucestershire, Northants Steelbacks, Birmingham Bears, Somerset, Glamorgan and Worcestershire Rapids is no more and the teams have been placed in separate groups. There are now nine teams in each group and the top four will progress.
Vitality Blast T20 - This weeks fixtures and predictions
Friday July 16th, 2021.
Hampshire Hawks vs Essex Eagles @ Rose Bowl, Southampton
Prediction:
Gloucestershire vs Surrey @ College Ground, Cheltenham
Prediction:
Middlesex vs Kent Spitfires @ Lord’s, London
Prediction:
Glamorgan vs Somerset @ Sophia Gardens, Cardiff
Prediction:
Hampshire Hawks vs Sussex Sharks @ Rose Bowl, Southampton
Prediction:
Birmingham Bears vs Worcestershire Rapids @ Edgbaston, Birmingham
Prediction:
Lancashire Lightning vs Durham @ Old Trafford, Manchester
Prediction:
Leicestershire Foxes vs Notts Outlaws @ Grace Road, Leicester
Vitality Blast T20 Groups
| North | South |
|---|---|
| Birmingham Bears | Essex Eagles |
| Derbyshire Falcons | Glamorgan |
| Durham | Gloucestershire |
| Lancashire Lightning | Hampshire |
| Leicestershire Foxes | Kent Spitfires |
| Northants Steelbacks | Middlesex |
| Notts Outlaws | Somerset |
| Worcestershire Rapids | Surrey |
| Yorkshire Vikings | Sussex Sharks |
Vitality Blast T20 - Players to Look out for
Birmingham Bears - Carlos Brathwaite | The Bears come into this season hoping to progress beyond the group stage for the first time since their 2017 final defeat. The West Indies all-rounder is their star player but will need to perform better than he has in the past for the Windies if Birmingham are to meet their targets.
Derbyshire Falcons - Ben McDermott | The 26-year old has been on the edge of the Australian national team since 2018 but hasn’t quite managed to make an impact yet. However, if he can bring his Hobart Hurricanes form to Derbyshire, the Falcons may exceed expectations by not finishing bottom of their group.
Durham - Cameron Bancroft | A household name for a very good reason. The introduction of Bancroft adds a different dimension to the Durham attack, which should make them a more formidable force with the bat this season.
Essex Eagles - Jimmy Neesham | Despite Jimmy Neesham only being available for the group stages, his success will be the main contributing factor to any chances Essex have of making it beyond the group. Essex will need to limit teams to low to average scores if they want to progress and the New Zealand international is one of the best bowlers in any format, including T20.
Glamorgan - Colin Ingram | We don’t see many sides outscoring Glamorgan in a slogfest and a large part of that is the return of Colin Ingram, David Lloyd and Marnus Labuschagne. All three players are capable of single-handedly winning games on their day and any success Glamorgan have will be down to Ingram, who was sorely missed during last year’s competition.
Gloucestershire - Ian Cockbain | Very few would have predicted Gloucestershire to make last year’s semi-final and even fewer would predict them to repeat that feat this year. However, if they’re going to, they’re going to need one of the tournament’s top scorers last year to be even better this year. He’ll need to start the competition well, so the pressure stays off their younger players such as Tom Lace.
Hampshire Hawks - James Vince | The Hawks were utterly abysmal last campaign, with two wins from 10 games and that must improve this campaign. However, with Vince, they have a man who is a natural-born winner. He aided Sydney Sixers to a win in the Australian Big Bash and has performed well in multiple series for England.
Kent Spitfires - Jack Leaning | The returning Mohammed Amir may improve the batting threat that Kent poses. However, it is their all-rounder who we think will be essential this time out. His bowling statistics aren’t the greatest, but as he has been one of the better Kent players in recent games and warm-ups, he could significantly contribute to any success with both the bat and the ball.
Lancashire Lightning - Finn Allen | Perhaps a controversial call but the 22-year old batsman is one of the most exciting prospects of the tournament. After making his debut for New Zealand against Bangladesh, Allen’s rise will be the difference between a steady campaign and a successful one for Lancashire.
Leicestershire Foxes - Colin Ackermann | How can we say anyone but the all-mighty Dutch bowler? The only player to take 7 wickets in a single T20 innings. He’s proven time and time again that when he’s on form, Leicestershire have a real gem on their hands. If they’re looking to go one better than they did last year, he is going to be crucial.
Middlesex - Nathan Sowter | With several players coming and going throughout the campaign, Middlesex are going to need their more consistent players to set the tone. Their most consistent bowler is Nathan Sowter. The leg-spinner isn’t one to snatch the headlines but is essential in keeping opposition scores down.
Northamptonshire Steelbacks - Ben Sanderson | As the batting order of Northamptonshire has taken a large hit due to the missing Paul Sterling, there is going to be added pressure on the bowling line-up to win games. Their biggest offensive threat is Ben Sanderson, who picked up 12 wickets in last year’s competition.
Notts Outlaws - Joe Clarke | When it comes to consistently getting runs, very few players have impacted past T20 Blasts like Joe Clarke. He averaged a score of 37.1 last year and was Notts’ top scorer in 40% of their games last year. They won all of those games and their only defeat of the campaign was when Clarke, Alex Hales and Chris Nash went for a shocking 34. When Joe Clarke performs, Notts win.
Somerset - Lewis Gregory | Somerset demands success and that is evident on the field whenever Gregory plays. He perhaps hasn’t lived up to the expectations set of him as a youngster but there is no doubting Gregory’s credentials on the field. He can gather quick runs and even quicker wickets in this year’s competition.
Surrey - Will Jacks | Very few players could argue they had a better T20 Blast campaign than Will Jacks in 2020. With over 300 runs and 13 wickets, the 22-year-old was in his element. His poor performance with the bat in last year’s final will likely be a motivational factor for him to smash his way through the competition in 2021.
Sussex Sharks - George Garton | Garton ended the 2020 campaign with two very good games with the ball. Sussex have struggled with the bat recently and it will take a real team effort for them to be competitive this year. This means they will need their bowlers to be at their best to stand a chance of progressing beyond last campaign’s quarter-final and putting their embarrassing 95-all-out defeat behind them.
Worcestershire Rapids - Sandeep Lamichhane | Perhaps Ben Dwarshuis would be a better choice in the entire tournament. However, you can’t look past the Leg Spin of Sandeep Lamichhane. How many players commonly tackle Leg Spinners? The answer is very few and if the 20-year-old can stamp his authority on any game, Worcestershire have a good chance of returning to their successful campaigns of 2018 and 2019.
Yorkshire Vikings - Lockie Ferguson | In a T20 environment, a good fast bowler is essential. Last year, Yorkshire’s bowling wasn’t great and they very much relied on the batting of Joe Root when he was available. With Lockie Ferguson added to the line-up, we believe there is a very good chance he’ll end up as their top wicket-taker for the tournament and Yorkshire will restrict a fair number of teams to low scores this campaign.
Vitality Blast T20 - Pre-Season Outright Betting Tips
Vitality Blast 2021 Winner
The current favourites to win the Vitality Blast in 2021 are the 2020 winners Notts Outlaws and in history, no side has ever won back-to-back tournaments. Worcestershire Rapids were one ball away from the historic feat in 2019 but it has never been accomplished. Statistics also don’t favour Surrey as only once in the competition’s history has a beaten finalist gone on to win the next year’s competition. However, our favourites for the competition are currently 4th in the betting markets. Somerset may have had a horrid campaign last time out but what perhaps went undocumented was how close all of their defeats were. They were never beaten convincingly but were lacking a bit of punch. Their younger players have matured in the last year and have already put in some impressive performances in 2021.
Vitality Blast 2021 North Group Winner
Over the course of 10 games, we think that the strongest squad is Notts Outlaws, without a doubt. They’ll face some tough competition in the form of Lancashire Lightning and Birmingham Bears, but they should have enough to secure the top spot of the Northern half.
Vitality Blast 2021 South Group Winner
The Southern side of the Vitality Blast is much harder to predict. The quality of the teams is generally very high, especially with the additions that Hampshire have brought in. That being said, I’m going to back a side that I feel have been slightly underestimated going into this year's competition and that is the Sussex Sharks.