Welsh Fire have never beaten Oval Invincibles in four previous games
Tawanda Muyeye is the second-highest scorer in the T20 Blast this season
Recommended bet: Tawanda Muyeye over 20.5 runs
Oval Invincibles are the two-time defending champions of the Hundred Men and they have shown why in their first three games so far this season.
After cruising to victory in their first two matches, the Invincibles were denied the hat-trick last time out only by Liam Livingstone’s blistering 69 from 27 balls getting Birmingham Phoenix over the line.
The holders lost that one with just two balls of the game left so were not far away from being a perfect three from three, and their all-round squad strength will be the envy of the other teams in the tournament.
Welsh Fire on the other hand made a slow start by suffering defeats in each of their first two games, but do at least come into this clash on the back of a first win that saw them climb from the foot of the table to sixth in the standings.
The latest Oval Invincibles vs Welsh Fire odds are available on LiveScore Bet.
Team news
The Welsh Fire have named the same line-up for each of their three games so far so are perhaps unlikely to make changes on the back of registering their first win, although Matt Henry is now available after international duty and will be hopeful of a start. Paul Walter might be the most in danger having failed to take a wicket so far although he has been used more readily than Saif Zaib, who has not bowled more than five deliveries in any of the three games.
Oval Invincibles stuck with the same XI that thrashed Manchester Originals by nine wickets for the defeat to Birmingham last time out and may keep the faith given that it was only Livingstone's explosive innings that denied them.
England's Gus Atkinson is an obvious candidate to come into the side should they choose to freshen things up.
The latest Oval Invincibles vs Welsh Fire odds are available on LiveScore Bet.
The stats
Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 86 against London Spirit is the highest individual score of any male player in this year’s tournament.
Donovan Ferreira has been in belligerent form for Oval Invincibles, hitting seven sixes and four fours from 34 balls in just two innings.
Riley Meredith of the Fire has taken the second-most wickets of any player in the tournament with seven, taking at least one in each game, while his 4-9 in the win over Manchester are the best bowling figures in the tournament so far.
Rashid Khan and Sam Curran of the Invincibles have each taken six wickets so far.
The latest Oval Invincibles vs Welsh Fire odds are available on LiveScore Bet.
Prediction
Oval Invincibles have shown themselves to be the side to beat once again this season as they look to win a third successive Hundred Men's title.
They have won two of their three games so far in comfortable fashion, while they still smashed 182-6 in their defeat to Birmingham, and sport an impressive net run rate of 2.085, the only team to surpass 0.504.
The hosts should also take plenty of confidence from the fact that they have never been beaten by Welsh Fire in four attempts. The Invincibles have won three of the four meetings while the duo shared a tie two seasons ago.
It is hard to see anything but a home win in this one but the prices reflect that and there may be some more value elsewhere.
Tawanda Muyeye has been one of the form batters in England this season, particularly in shorter format games.
He currently ranks second in the most runs scored in the T20 Blast with an aggregate of 516 at an average of 36.85 and he has already made an unbeaten 59 on home soil this season.
Back Tawanda Muyeye over 20.5 runs at evens with LiveScore Bet.
