Welsh Fire vs London Spirit Prediction: Back Smith and Bairstow to damage the Spirit

Both sides disappointed in their opening matches and will be looking to kickstart their tournaments on Saturday, live on Sky Sports and BBC2, from 18:00. 

Dan Thomas is here with the latest on the teams and his best bets as he brings us his Welsh Fire vs London Spirit predictions… 

*You can check out all of our Cricket Odds over at betfred.com

Welsh yet to fire 

The Fire come into Saturday's Hundred clash at Sophia Gardens keen to bounce back after a comprehensive defeat at the Northern Superchargers on Thursday.  

They were looking well set after a strong 62-run opening partnership between marquee signing Steve Smith and Jonny Bairstow, who struck 42 off just 23 balls, but ended up limping to just 143/9 and a Zak Crawley-inspired Superchargers chased the total down with 11 balls to spare. 

Heading into their first game on home soil, Fire will take heart from Bairstow's knock, while pace bowler Riley Meredith bowled tidily on the night taking two wickets. 

Spirit shellacked 

Spirit's efforts to not to repeat last year's bottom-of-the-table finish got off to the worst possible start with a home thrashing by the Oval Invincibles.  

Their top order, including big money signing David Warner and new skipper Kane Williamson, struggled for fluency and the Invincibles chased down their 81 with ease.  

Liam Dawson's spin was one ray of light on the evening, while the potential addition of England's Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton will strengthen the batting line-up.  

Recent meetings between these teams have been tightly contested, with two wins each in their past four encounters. 

Pitch and conditions 

Sophia Gardens generally offers a fair contest between bat and ball, but the surface often provides a touch of assistance for seamers early on and there were some low scores here in 2024, with no side breaching 150. A mild dry evening is expected with temperatures of around 20c but it could be windy. 

Key odds 

The two sides can't be split in the match winner market, with both rated as 10/11 chances. We'd just about favour the hosts here given Spirit's lacklustre performance at Lords but it's not a price worth taking.  

Bairstow is the favourite to top score again for the Fire at 10/3 with Smith a 14/5 shot. The Australian will likely be a dominant figure all month and it might be too good a price to miss.  

Despite an under-par debut, fellow Aussie Warner is the 3/1 favourite to top score for Spirit with Williamson at 10/3. If he plays, Jamie Smith looks a better option at 4/1.  

*You can check out all the latest and live Welsh Fire vs London Spirit Odds over on betfred.com

Best Bets 

Smith was accumulating steadily at Headingley on Thursday before attempting to reverse sweep Matt Potts and I expect him to take a fancy to the Spirit attack so am happy to jump on the 14/5 for top Fire batter. I'll also back Smith and Bairstow to outscore Warner and Keaton Jennings, who both looked scratchy at Lords.

*Dan Thomas is pulling double duty on The Hundred this Saturday. You can read his Oval Invincibles vs Manchester Originals Predictions elsewhere here on Betfred Insights.

Dan Thomas 2025 Cricket P/L:

• Staked: 4.5pts 
• Returned: 2.1pts 
• P/L: -2.4pts 

*P/L at the time of publication