In-form Hampshire ready to wreck Warwickshire T20 hopes
Published:Warwickshire Bears are tipped to maul their quarter-final opponents, Hampshire Hawks, in the first of Monday’s Twenty20 Cup double-header.
Warwickshire, the home side, begin as 8/11 favourites, though they will be wary of the threat that their resurgent opponents possess.
Hampshire began their Twenty20 campaign a little slowly, but gathered momentum with a run of three successive victories at the end of the group stage.
The Hawks are evens to continue their winning streak at Edgbaston, and they will look to England Twenty20 star Michael Lumb and South African Neil McKenzie to pile on the runs.
Veteran Dominic Cork has produced some vintage performance with the ball, and he has proved to be a wily captain in the absence of regular leader Dmitri Mascarenhas.
Warwickshire’s dangermen, meanwhile, will be England trio Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott and Jim Troughton, who have all contributed valuable knocks throughout the season.
In the day’s other quarter-final clash, Nottinghamshire are 4/6 favourites to dethrone reigning champions Sussex at Trent Bridge.
Sussex Sharks have been in torrid Twenty20 form of late, having lost six of their last seven fixtures, but their Twenty20 calibre is undoubted.
Champions in 2009, Sussex soared to the top of the South Group in the early stages of this year’s competition, and their big game pedigree will give them a fighting chance at 11/10 to beat Warwickshire.
Skippered by England all-rounder Michael Yardy, Sussex are a side bursting with international talent such as Pakistan’s Rana Naved Ul-Hasan and New Zealand’s big-hitting wicket-keeper Brendon McCullum.
Nottinghamshire have an abundance of stars themselves, with Wisden Cricketers of the Year Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad in particularly destructive bowling form.
Can Nottinghamshire go all the way? They are 4/1 to win the Twenty20 Cup. See the full Twenty20 Cup Betting Odds market.
