T20 Blast | Middlesex vs Kent | Preview, Prediction, Probable XI, CREX XI

The 86th match of the English T20 Blast 2022 will see Middlesex (MID) locking horns against KET (Kent) in the South Group at Lord’s in London.

After winning the first three games in a row, Middlesex have fallen out of the radar, and continued their losing streak, having lost six matches in a row. They saw themself losing another Blast game on Friday against their London rivals Surrey at the Oval. 

It was another disappointing batting display from Middlesex’s batters as the visitors never got going throughout the innings, failing to post a competitive total on what looked to be a good pitch to bat on. In reply, Surrey chased the modest total inside 16 overs, continuing their unbeaten run in the competition.

Steven Eskinazi has been their best batter this season, scoring 284 runs at a strike rate of 170. His opening partner Max Holden will be another player to watch out, who has made 197 runs in the tournament so far. With the ball, Martin Andersson is leading the pack and has taken 15 wickets in the tournament so far. 

On the other hand, Kent have won just two games this season, with one of them coming against Middlesex, at their home. The reigning champions are sitting at the bottom of the South Group, after losing their seventh of the season.

Joe Denly has 520 career runs against Middlesex, which is most by any player in the fixtures between these two teams. He has 317 runs in the tournament so far at an average of 39.62. 

Italian international Grant Stewart, has taken the most number of wickets for Kent so far. He has 10 wickets at an average of 20.5.

Lord’s will be hosting Middlesex vs Kent for the 8th time in history. In a total of 7 games between these two teams at this venue so far, Kent is leading the head to head record with four wins, while Middlesex has won only twice. 

Joe Denly scored a brilliant century at home, when these two sides played each other last time. Denly scored 110 off 58 and guided Kent to their first win of this season. Chris Green and Martin Andersson took three wickets each, for Middlesex. In reply, Middlesex scored only 137 for 8 in twenty overs, with Jack Leaning taking a 3 for 30 for Kent. 

With only five games remaining before the knockouts, Middlesex will be hoping to get back into winning ways. They will be looking at this encounter to turn things around and rebuild their season from here. 

They need to find the form they were in at the start of the season, when they started with three wins in a row. Meanwhile, Kent will be hoping to repeat their last year’s performance at Lord’s, where they bowled Middlesex out for just 80 and make it a double over Middlesex this season. 

Match Details:

Match: Middlesex vs Kent, Match 86th

Venue: Lord’s, London

Date & Time: June 19th at 07:00 PM IST

Live Streaming: FanCode and ECB website.

Pitch Report: The pitch at Lord’s is a balanced one for a T20 game. The average first innings total is around 180. Anything above 190 is difficult to chase. The team winning the toss should bat first as four of the last five T20s at this venue saw the team batting first win.  

Head-To-Head

Matches played: 32

Glamorgan Won: 15

Kent Won: 15

Squads:

Middlesex: Stephen Eskinazi (c), Max Holden, Joe Cracknell, Jack Davies, John Simpson (wk), Luke Hollman, Martin Andersson, Chris Green, Thilan Walallawita, Tom Helm, Jason Behrendorff, Josh De Caires, Toby Greatwood

Kent: Joe Denly, Tawanda Muyeye, Sam Billings (c & wk), Jack Leaning, Jordan Cox, George Linde, Alex Blake, Grant Stewart, Qais Ahmad, Matt Milnes, Fred Klaassen, Matthew Quinn, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Jas Singh, Zak Crawley. 

Probable Playing XI:

Middlesex: Stephen Eskinazi (c), Max Holden, Joe Cracknell, Jack Davies, John Simpson (wk), Luke Hollman, Martin Andersson, Chris Green, Thilan Walallawita, Tom Helm, Jason Behrendorff

Kent:  Joe Denly, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Jordan Cox, Sam Billings (c & wk), Alex Blake, Jack Leaning, George Linde, Grant Stewart, Qais Ahmad, Matt Quinn, Fred Klaassen

CREX XI Suggestion:

Wicket-Keeper: Jordan Cox

Batters: Joe Denly, Steven Eskinazi, Max Holden

All-Rounders: Martin Andersson, Chris Green, Luke Hollman, Jack Leaning

Bowlers: Fred Klaassen, Qais Ahmed, Jason Behrendorff

Captain: Joe Denly

Vice-Captain: Martin Andersson