It couldn’t be closer in the men’s tournament with three teams on five points, three teams on three points and two teams on two points after the opening week of action.
The Oval Invincibles (4/1) lead the way with two wins from three - over the London Spirit and the Manchester Originals and a tie against the Welsh Fire. The batting has yet to prosper – other than a huge score against Manchester – but with talents such as Jason Roy (14/1 Top Batter Tournament), Will Jacks (20/1), Sam Billings (80/1) and the Currans, they have a lot of international white-ball experience.
They also have a plethora of bowling talent – the aforementioned Curran duo, joint-leading wicket-taker Gus Atkinson (8/1 Top Bowler Tournament), and the spin duo of Sunil Narine (66/1) and Nathan Sowter (16/1). The introduction of Aussie left-arm seamer Spencer Johnson in the game against Manchester brought a return of three wickets for one run in 20 balls.
Another of the teams in the top trio is the Welsh Fire who are 9/2 in the betting. The Fire have finished in the bottom two of The Hundred in the first two years of the competition but are much improved in 2023. Luke Wells (20/1 Top Batter Tournament) and Joe Clarke (16/1) are in the top five run scorers so far in the competition with Steve Eskanazi and David Willey also contributing heavily.
Paceman Shaheen Shah Afridi (18/1 Top Bowler Tournament) has six wickets in the competition, joint for first among bowlers, with Haris Rauf (five), Roelof van der Merwe (four), David Payne (three) and David Willey (three) ably supporting. With wins over Manchester and Birmingham, a draw against Oval and a defeat to Southern Brace, they’ll be confident heading into the second part of the campaign.
Northern Superchargers are third favourites (5/1), but are currently, with the Oval Invincibles, undefeated in the competition. A no result against Birmingham has been coupled with wins over Southern Brave – scoring 200 in the process – and Trent Rockets.
Matthew Short (16/1 Top Batter Tournament) has 81 tuns in two innings, with Harry Brook (63), David Wiese (55), Tom Banton (44) and Brydon Carse (33) contributing as well. They have underrated firepower, which will be tested greatly against the Oval Invincibles on August 11.
Reece Topley (8/1 Top Bowler Tournament) has six wickets through three games, with the left-arm seaming stable of the Superchargers also containing captain Wayne Parnell who has five wickets. A spin trio of Short, Callum Parkinson and Adil Rashid, along with the express of Carse, fuel a well-rounded bowling attack.
Trent Rockets (5/1), Southern Brace (7/1) and Manchester Originals (15/2) are the three teams with three points. The Brave could be the best of the outsider options due to their bowling attack. Tymal Mills, Craig Overton, Chris Jordan and Rehan Ahmed provide an exciting international calibre group.
