Eoin Morgan’s London will face Moeen Ali’s Birmingham in the second clash of Hundred Championship 2021. It would be interesting to see how Morgan catches up with this new format.
Match Timings: July 23, 11 PM IST
Team Preview
Men’s Hundred tournament started with a bang in Oval and now two good sides, London and Birmingham will kick off their campaign in the first edition. Both sides would look to start their Hundred campaign on a winning note.
London will be led by WC-winning captain Morgan and they have ticked all the points while picking their squad. Apart from a good batting lineup, they have a quality pace attack in form of Mohammed Amir, Mark Wood, and Chris Wood. They have a good mix-up of young and experience.
They have England Test specialist Crawley who will play for sure. Followed by two all-rounders Mohammed Nabi and Ravi Bopara who can deliver in the final balls of the game. Josh Inglis and Eoin Morgan can push themselves in top-order. Inglis has scored 531 runs in the T20 Blast at an average of 48.27.
Meanwhile, Birmingham looks good but they might face a tough time from London. They have players like Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, and Chris Woakes who were excellent for England in home conditions. Livingstone was the man of the series in the T20I series against Pakistan. Finn Allen has also spent his good time in Blast and scored 399 runs at an average of 33.25.
Imran Tahir will lead the spin attack in Edgbaston. Dominic Sibley will be the only player from England’s Test quota. They have a good balance but somehow they lack the finishing option but it’s a 100-ball game and top-order might trouble London bowlers. London is slightly better on the paper but toss will be important.
Pitch Report
Edgbaston’s surface is a fine batting track and it provides good assistance to pacers. Batting first will be a good idea after winning the toss.
Possible XI
London
Ravi Bopara, Zak Crawley, Eoin Morgan, Joe Denly, Josh Inglis, Mohammed Nabi, Mohammed Amir, Jade Dernbach, Mark Wood, Mason Crane, Luis Reece
Birmingham
Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Finn Allen, Dominic Sibley, Benny Howell, Chris Woakes, Imran Tahir, Adam Milne, Tom Abell, Patrick Brown, Miles Hammond
Key Players
London
Eoin Morgan
Mohammed Nabi
Birmingham
Liam Livingstone
Moeen Ali
