WRW vs DUR 35th Match - North Group Prediction

WRW vs DUR Team Previews

Birmingham Bears

Birmingham Bears started had a terrific start to the tournament as they chased down a competitive total with eight wickets to spare. Since then, they've been on a topsy-turvy trail and a loss in their last match has left them with just two wins in four games. They're just one spot above Durham and a loss in their upcoming will reverse things in the points table.

Bowling first, the Bears failed to put the breaks on the scoring rate since the beginning of the Leics' innings. Cameron Delport and Neil Dexter hammered their bowlers right from the word go. Dom Sibley grabbed a smart catch at covers to dismiss Neil Dexter, but little did they know about the ideas of Ben Raine. Raine scored a total of 113 which was just 14 runs short of Birmingham's total of 127 runs.

The Bears started exactly opposite to the kind of start they'd have hoped for. Although they picked up 17 runs from the first over. Ben Raine then dismissed two important wickets of Ian Bell and Sam Hain to extend the Bears' bad day as they slid to 36 for 3. Ed Pollock looked good for his 25, but due to lack of support from any other batsman, he, too, succumbed to the pressure was bowled by Colin Ackermann.

Consistency was a word which was regularly associated with the Bears in their last season. However, the word is nowhere close to describing Birmingham's campaign this year. They've been genius and brilliant at times, but unpredictable. They can turn this unpredictability to their advantage and surprise their opponents and if they can do that, Durham may well be in for a surprise.

---

Durham

It was a day characteristic of what Durham have experienced in the tournament so far. They've often lost from a position of control and it was no different in their last match as well.

Bowling first, Durham restricted Yorkshire Vikings to a modest total of 157. Paul Collingwood, Will Smith, and Imran Tahir bowled wonderfully and dried up the boundaries for Yorkshire. In Process, former England captain picked up three wickets and gave away just 27 runs in his four overs. The hero of the last match, Imran Tahir, picked up only one wicket but bowled a miserly spell with an economy rate of 5.25 which never allowed the Vikings to take off.

They started off well and looked truly within the game until the thirteenth over. The opening partnership of 77 between Latham and Glark in just 10.3 overs tilted the game in their favor. However, as has been the case with them throughout the competition so far, they lost the steam when things reached their middle order. They not only failed to keep required run rate in check but also lost key wickets at regular intervals which allowed Vikings to get back and eventually win the match by 10 runs.