WELF (Welsh Fire) vs MAN (Manchester Originals) Match Prediction

WELF

55%

Chance of Winning

MAN

45%

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Aug 02, 202305:00 PM

Test

Sophia Gardens

Welsh Fire will take on Manchester Originals in the inaugural match of The Hundred Men's Competition 2023 at the Sophia Gardens, Cardiff on Wednesday, August 2. The action will kick off from 7:30 PM IST.

In the 2022 edition of The Hundred Men's competition, Welsh Fire lost each of their eight matches and finished at the bottom of the points table. On the other hand, Manchester Originals lost to Trent Rockets in the final. They won five of their eight league stage matches.

Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals Chance of Winning

We are expecting Welsh Fire to register their first-ever win against Manchester Originals in their first match of The Hundred Men's Competition 2023. Jos Buttler and Phil Salt are the only ones who can make the difference for their team, but Welsh Fire have quite a few match-winners.

There is no match between the bowling units of Welsh Fire and Manchester Originals. Welsh have the likes of Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf in their squad apart from Ollie Pope, Glenn Phillips, Jonny Bairstow and David Willey.

The Manchester Originals unit could face a very tough time against a star-studded Welsh Fire line-up in the upcoming match.

WF chances of winning - 55%

MO chances of winning - 45%

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Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals Tournament Prediction & Betting Tips 2023

Welsh Fire would expect heavy contributions from the Pakistan pair of Haris Rauf and Shaheen Afridi. The latter featured in the Vitality Blast 2023 and picked 22 wickets from 14 matches. Rauf is also among the top pacers in white-ball cricket at the moment.

Ireland left-hand pacer Joshua Little will have the onus of the Manchester Originals bowling unit on him. He was the fourth-highest wicket-taker in the previous season. He picked 13 wickets in just five matches at an average of 8.

Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals Match Toss Prediction

In the last match at the venue last season, home team Welsh Fire opted to bat first but lost the match by six wickets. In the second-last match here, Southern Brave elected to field and won by nine wickets. In the third-last match, Welsh Fire elected to field but lost to Birmingham Phoenix. There is a high chance that the team winning the toss will opt to bat first.

Weather Report

"Breezy in the morning with a touch of rain; otherwise, mainly cloudy," is the Cardiff weather forecast according to AccuWeather. The match kicks off from 3:00 PM local time and there is no prediction for rain from 11:00 AM to 8:00 PM. The temperature will hover around 18-20 degree celsius. The wind speed will be somewhere around 21 km/h.

Welsh Fire Player List

Welsh Fire Squad

Jonny Bairstow, Tom Abell, David Willey, Shaheen Afridi, Joe Clarke, Glenn Phillips, Ben Green, Haris Rauf, David Payne, Roelof van der Merwe, Jake Ball, Stephen Eskinazi, Dan Douthwaite, George Scrimshaw, Luke Wells, Chris Cooke

WF Predicted XI

Welsh Fire Team Form

Welsh Fire had an atrocious campaign last year. They lost each of their eight matches. With a few good additions this year, they would be hoping for a better campaign.

Manchester Originals Player List

Manchester Originals Squad

Jos Buttler, Usama Mir, Phil Salt, Laurie Evans, Ashton Turner, Jamie Overton, Tom Hartley, Richard Gleeson, Paul Walter, Josh Tongue, Josh Little (Zaman Khan between August 16 and knockout rounds), Wayne Madsen, Tom Lammonby, Mitchell Stanley, Max Holden, Ben Raine

MO Predicted XI

Manchester Originals Team Form

Manchester Originals (MO) lost the final of The Men's Hundred Competition by 2 wickets against Trent Rockets. However, they were just stunning throughout the season. Their last five matches have seen them win four times.

Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals Head to Head

Manchester Originals so far have maintained a clean slate against Welsh Fire by winning both their matches.

Matches: 2

Welsh Fire Won: 2

Manchester Originals won: 0

Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals Betting Odds

Manchester Originals opening partnership to be over 19.5

Manchester Originals were the runners-up in men's The Hundred 2022 and their two openers Jos Buttler and Phil Salt had to play a huge role in it. Salat scored 353 runs - the second-highest in the season, while Buttler (203) was the eighth-highest run-scorer. There are high chances that the duo would partner for over 19.5 runs for the opening wicket. In the last match against Welsh Fire, the duo partnered for 66 runs in just 35 balls. Welsh Fire do have a better bowling attack this year, but the England internationals should manage to score over 19 runs together.

Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals Top Team Batter

Jonny Bairstow to be Welsh Fire's top batter

The star England wicketkeeper-batter will emerge as one of the biggest threats for Manchester Originals. He would be coming from his Ashes stint where he played a couple of handy knock through the Bazball approach. The Hundred Men's Competition comes as an opportunity for Bairstow to switch to the white-ball mode and start his preparations for the World Cup 2023 in India from October 5. Bairstow has played a total of 181 T20 matches and scored 4311 runs at an average of 30.35.

Jos Buttler to be Manchester Originals' top batter

The England white-ball captain was his team's second-leading run-scorer in the men's Hundred 2022. He scored 203 runs in five matches at an average of 40.60 and a strike rate of 149.26. Buttler also played 10 matches of Vitality Blast 2023 and scored 334 runs at an average of 33.40 and a strike rate of 146.49. In the IPL 2023, Buttler scored 392 runs in 14 matches at an average of 139. Overall, the 32-year-old has scored 10133 runs in 373 runs at an average of 34.11 and a strike rate of 144.57.

Welsh Fire vs Manchester Originals Top bowler

Jake Ball to be Welsh Fire's top bowler

Jake Ball could possibly emerge as the leading wicket-taker for Welsh Fire in the opening match for his side. He was the team's highest wicket-taker in the last season. He picked eight wickets in eight matches at an average of 28.37 and an economy rate of 8.73. He recently featured in the Vitality Blast 2023 and picked 14 wickets in nine matches at an average of 23.42. Overall, the right-arm pacer has featured in 118 matches and picked 156 wickets at an average of 22.45.

Paul Walter to be Manchester Originals' top bowler

Eyes will be on Paul Walter, the joint-leading wicket-taker of the men's The Hundred 2023 edition. He picked 14 wickets in 10 matches at an average of 11.42 and an economy rate of 7.11. He picked 12 wickets in 17 matches in the Vitality Blast 2023. The left-arm pacer has played a total of 102 T20I matches and picked 55 wickets at an average of 25.60 and an economy rate of 8.82.

Our Prediction

Favorites to win: Welsh Fire

Welsh Fire look set to beat Manchester Originals to kick off their campaign on Wednesday. The likes of pacer Shaheen Afridi and Haris Rauf is going to create a lot of trouble for Manchester Originals who are largely going to depend on Jos Buttler and Phil Salt. There is no other recognised T20 star in the team. Welsh Fire on the other hand have the likes of Jonny Bairstow, Glenn Phillips, Ollie Pope and David Willey also in their line-up.

WF to win - 2.10 (Parimatch)

MO to win - 1.69 (Parimatch)

Shankar Shekh

Sportscafe's author

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