The regular season of the men’s Hundred has come to an end, with Oval Invincibles finishing top of the table, Birmingham Phoenix in second, and Southern Brave in third. The playoffs begin with the Phoenix taking on the Brave in the eliminator at the Oval in London.

This is a rematch of the final of the inaugural season of the Hundred, in which Southern Brave proved themselves to be victors. Both teams will be looking to return to the final for the first time since 2021. It is crunch time for both teams, with a spot in the finals on the line, and nothing but elimination for the losers.

LAST FIVE MATCHES RESULTS

Phoenix have 4 wins on the trot, while Brave got slightly fortunate with a washout in their final group match.

BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX: L W W W W

SOUTHERN BRAVE: W W L W NR

LIKELY PLAYING XIs

Birmingham Phoenix have found a settled combination, and will carry that into this elimination match. While Southern Brave have chopped and changed to maintain the fitness of their bowlers, they will play their strongest lineup as well.

BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX likely XI

Batters: Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell

Allrounders: Moeen Ali, Dan Mousley, Benny Howell

Wicketkeeper: Jamie Smith

Bowlers: Sean Abbott, Adam Milne, Tim Southee, Chris Wood

SOUTHERN BRAVE likely XI

Batters: James Vince, Leus du Plooy, Laurie Evans

Allrounders: James Coles, Kieron Pollard, Chris Jordan

Wicketkeeper: Alex Davies

Bowlers: Tymal Mills, Danny Briggs, Akeal Hosein, Jofra Archer

STATISTICAL PERFORMANCE (BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX)

1. Ben Duckett

Ben Duckett has been the MVP with bat for Phoenix, and is the second highest scorer in the tournament overall with 262 runs in 6 innings. He scored 92 in a losing cause against Brave. He is the hot pick for the Phoenix.

INNINGS - 29

RUNS - 884

AVERAGE – 36.83

STRIKE RATE – 146.60

50s/100s – 5/0

2. Tim Southee

Tim Southee is the leading wicket-taker for the Birmingham Phoenix this season with 14 wickets, including the best figures in the tournament of 5-12.

INNINGS - 9

WICKETS - 17

STRIKE RATE – 10.00

ECONOMY RATE – 5.82

AVERAGE – 27.07

Players who can make a difference (BIRMINGHAM PHOENIX)

1. Moeen Ali

Moeen Ali has found some form in recent matches. He has established a strong opening partnership with Ben Duckett.

2. Sean Abbott

He has a tendency to be expensive on off-days, but Sean Abbott should enjoy the conditions at the Oval, capable of generating bounce and seam.

STATISTICAL PERFORMANCE (SOUTHERN BRAVE)

1. James Vince

James Vince has been the best batter in the tournament, scoring 357 runs in 8 innings and well on top in the scoring charts. He also scored 90* against Phoenix in their group match. He is the definite hot pick for the Braves.

INNINGS: 32

RUNS: 913

AVERAGE: 33.81

STRIKE RATE: 142.43

50s/100s: 8/0

2. Chris Jordan

Chris Jordan is the strike bowler for Southern Brave, and part of a powerful pace attack for the team alongside Jofra Archer and Tymal Mills. He has 14 wickets this season, including 3 against Phoenix.

INNINGS - 26

WICKETS - 35

STRIKE RATE – 13.31

ECONOMY RATE – 7.27

AVERAGE – 19.37

Players who can make a difference (SOUTHERN BRAVE)

1. Kieron Pollard

Kieron Pollard has been one of the finest finishers in the Hundred 2024, playing some match-winning knocks. In his last innings, he hit Rashid Khan for 5 consecutive sixes.

2. Jofra Archer

Archer is a big-game player, who at his best can single-handedly win games with the ball. Brave will be hoping Archer can hit his peak form right in time.

TEAMS HEAD TO HEAD RECORD

Southern Brave have thoroughly dominated the Phoenix in the head-to-head, with 4 wins to 1. They won the contest earlier this season by 32 runs.

VENUE AND PITCH

The pitch has been a low-scoring venue in this season, with the bowlers and in particular pacers finding joy. Opening batters will need to play with application and preserve their wickets, after which they can score against the old ball.

Teams prefer to chase at the Oval, and the chasing team has won 3 out of 4 times so far this season. The average first innings score in 142 runs.

MATCH PREDICTION

While Phoenix are on a better run of form with 4 victories on the trot, Southern Brave are on par with their bowling and have a middle order which has been more tested and is in better form. With star players on both sides, it will come down to how the rest of the team plays. Brave will have a very narrow edge, 60% to 40%.

FANTASY XI

James Vince is the captain while Tim Southee is the vice-captain in this combined fantasy XI.

Batters: James Vince (C), Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone

Wicketkeepers: Alex Davies

All-rounders: Kieron Pollard, Chris Jordan, Moeen Ali

Bowlers: Tim Southee (VC), Jofra Archer, Akeal Hosein, Sean Abbott

Backup players:

Batter: Jacob Bethell

Wicketkeeper: Jamie Smith

All-rounder: Benny Howell

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