MID vs SUR Match Preview
Jason Behrendorff was quite impressive in his stint with the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2023 season. But the bad news for Middlesex is that he will not return to play for them. The South African Pieter Malan who has been taking part in County Championship will join Middlesex to bat near the top of the order. Another crucial player for Middlesex is Steve Eskinazi. This 29-year-old right-handed batter scored a valiant 65 in the last match for Middlesex in the 2022 season. During the winter he went on to take part in the Big Bash League in Australia.
Another crucial player for the Middlesex outfit in this game is Pieter Malan. This 33-year-old South African has already recorded a top score of 140 runs not out in T20 cricket. He also has an excellent average of 38.79 in the T20 format from 54 innings. Another all-rounder to watch out for is Martin Andersson. He returned with the figures of 3 for 20 in the T20 format in the last game. He is a consistent wicket-taker in this format. Middlesex lost their last 4 games in the competition last year. They will need to look for a new approach for this season to be competitive.
It is expected that the overseas players Sunil Narine and Jason Roy will be included in the Surrey team right from the word go. Their IPL campaign was over last week but their skipper Chris Jordan is still playing for Mumbai Indians in IPL. Sam Curran is also unlikely to be available for this game. It is expected that Will Jacks will lead the Surrey outfit in this game and possibly for the entire season. Will Jacks had a terrific 12 to 18 months in the role of a batting all-rounder for various teams. He hit a hundred while playing for near the top of the order in last year's The Hundred.
Another 35-year-old batsman that is expected to do well this year is Laurie Evans. He has scored more than 5100 runs in the T20 format with a couple of hundreds. He is one of the more attacking batters in the T20 Blast in recent seasons. Sean Abbot is a bowling all-rounder who is a threat to the opposition all the time in the T20 format. He can move the ball in the air, off the pitch, and has a decent pace. The Surrey outfit last year was a force to reckon with in group stages. But they ended up losing 4 out of their last 5 games in the competition.
Weather Report
The temperatures during the games played at the Lord’s cricket ground will vary between 18 degrees and 21 degrees. It might get partially cloudy in the evenings. The relative humidity during the game will be close to 61%. There are no chances of getting showers during the game.
Pitch Report
The average first-inning total scored on this track is 170 runs. The highest total scored at this venue in domestic T20 matches is 223 for 7 by Surrey. The lowest total at this ground came from Middlesex who were bowled out 80. So, any team batting first will look to get to a score of 180 runs to feel safe on the wicket.
Notable stats
Surrey has an incredible recent record against Middlesex.
Surrey has won all the last five games played by these two teams in this format. They lead the recent head-to-head 5-0.
Martin Andersson has a terrific strike rate for Middlesex.
In his last 8 appearances for Middlesex Martin Andersson has picked up 11 scalps with a strike rate of 13.27.
Team News
There are some notable omissions from the Surrey team as many of their players are still taking part in other tournaments across the world. That apart, full sides should be available for selection in this game.
MID vs SUR Probable 11
MID Playing 11
- Steve Eskinazi (C)
- Pieter Malan
- Joe Cracknell
- John Simpson (Wk)
- Joshua De Caires
- Luke Hollman
- Martin Andersson
- Blake Cullen
- Max Harris
- Tom Helm
- Toby Roland-Jones
SUR Playing 11
- Will Jacks (C)
- Jason Roy
- Laurie Evans
- Ollie Pope
- Ben Foakes (Wk)
- Sunil Narine
- Jamie Overton
- Tom Curran
- Sean Abbott
- Reece Topley
- Gus Atkinson
Dream11 Prediction
This is the first match of the new season to be played on Lords. The Surrey team will be expecting bigger things from this game. They easily topped the tables last year in South Group. However, during the next stages of the competition, the side was shocked by Yorkshire as many top players from the side left for other engagements. The Surrey side is expected to breeze past the mediocre Middlesex team in this game. We will bet with Surrey to win this game and open their account in the season.
Top Picks
Steve Eskinazi: Steve Eskinazi was leading the Middlesex side last year and scored 431 runs in the competition. He is once again expected to dominate the batting charts this year.
Martin Andersson: Andersson was the leading bowler for Middlesex last year as he picked up 17 wickets from the tournament.
Will Jacks: Will Jacks is an international batter for England. He also scored 5 half-centuries last year. You can bet on him to come good in this game.
Sean Abbot: Sean Abbot is the top wicket-taker in Australian Big Bash League. He might emerge as the leading bowler for Surrey.
MID vs SUR Dream11 Team 1
Keeper: O Pope
Batters: J Roy (C), S Eskinazi, M Holden, W Jacks (VC), P Malan
All-rounders: S Curran, M Andersson
Bowlers: C Jordan, R Topley, T Roland Jones
