Southern Brave host Manchester Super Giants at the Rose Bowl on Saturday 8 August with their campaign under pressure. They lost their previous game to Welsh Fire by six wickets, their fourth defeat of the season, after being bowled out for 115 while batting first. Both openers fell without a run on the board, and Marcus Stoinis alone resisted with 55 from 39 balls. David Miller made 21 and Nikhil Chaudhary 18.
With the ball, Jofra Archer took two wickets and Chris Jordan and Adil Rashid one apiece, but Welsh Fire completed the chase with five balls to spare.
Manchester come in on a high after beating the same opponents by nine wickets. They held Welsh Fire to 155 and then chased it down in only 69 balls. Tim Seifert hit 62 from 36, Jos Buttler stayed unbeaten on 51 from 20, and Paul Walter added a rapid 37 from 18. Gus Atkinson’s 2 for 12 from 15 balls led the bowling, with Josh Tongue and Walter taking a wicket each.
Buttler has made 277 runs in six games at 92.33 this season, and Tongue leads the side’s wicket column with seven. That form, plus Southern Brave’s fragile batting, is why we pick Manchester.
