Birmingham Phoenix vs Trent Rockets Prediction: Middle-order hitters to go well in the Edgbaston sun

It’s the fourth match of the 2026 men’s Hundred and it starts at 18:30 on Friday July 24 at Edgbaston between the Birmingham Phoenix and the Trent Rockets.
Here’s the team news, latest odds and best betting tips by Jamie Pacheco before we get under way.

Let’s check out his Birmingham Phoenix vs Trent Rockets prediction...

Birmingham Phoenix

England’s latest darling, fresh from a man of the match performance in the 3^rd ODI against India on Sunday with runs and wickets, Jacob Bethell, has been ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.

Losing him is almost the equivalent of losing three players. He would have provided a good option in the Top 3 of the batting, would have bowled a few canny overs and is the best fielder in just about any side he plays in. Did we mention he was also meant to lead the team? We did know.

So a huge hole to fill and what we do know is that the very-capable Donovan Ferreira, not dissimilar to Bethell himself in terms of what he can do, will take over the captaincy.

Fellow England man Rehan Ahmed was their second most expensive signing after Bethell at £250,000 which suggests they value him highly and expect him to play a big role. Last season he often batted at three and won a couple of times at big odds so he’s one to keep an eye on with the bat.

Aussie Mitch Owen is capable of very fast starts and can also contribute with the ball. Last season they ended fifth so will need to improve significantly if they’re to make the Playoffs.

Trent Rockets

Last season the Rockets finished a very impressive second in the table and that finish of second rather than third proved crucial because when the Eliminator was rained off, it was them rather than the Northern Superchargers who progressed to the final, courtesy of exactly that. A total of 168 against the Oval Invincible (now MI London) proved too many in the final but it was still a very solid campaign.

They’ve lost Marcus Stoinis to the Southern Brave and that’s a big loss. Gun overseas all-rounders are worth their weight in gold in these tournaments. Just as an example, in last year’s final he took two wickets and then came back and hit 64 off 38 to get his side close.

But there’s a great mix of overseas players - Finn Allen, Tim David, Matt Henry and Mitch Santner- to go with some quality domestic talent such as Ben Duckett, Tom Banton and Lewis Gregory. And a good balance to the team, too.

Mohammed Amir is now a local player too and he certainly knows his way around this format.

Predicted line-ups

Birmingham Phoenix: Smeed, Owen, Dickson, Clarke, Ferreira, Evans, Rehan, Thompson, Currie, Tariq, Saqib

Trent Rockets Allen, Duckett, Banton, David, Mousley, Billings, Gregory/C Overton, Briggs, Santner, Payne/Amir, Henry

Pitch & conditions

It should be warm out there and a lovely sunny late afternoon in Birmingham.

There’s a bit of a toss bias at Edgbaston with teams batting first proving to be more successful with a 67% win rate, which is pretty high. The average first innings score is 145, somewhat typical of The Hundred as a whole in that that’s not to steep a target to get but you need to bat well to get to it.

With some early seam movement, it’s not necessarily a pitch where openers can be too Gung-Ho from the very start but openers who hang around after the Powerplay can then go play their shots once they’re in.

Match Odds

11/10 on the Phoenix plays 8/11 on the Rockets.

Based on last year’s performances, those odds are justified; the Rockets finished second, the Phoenix just fifth as we’ve already seen.

But closer inspection of the head-to-head record suggests the hosts may be a little underrated here. They’ve won five of the nine between them in general terms and are three from four when at Edgbaston. Then again, the Rockets won home and away last campaign so that evens things out a bit more.

So they’re well-matched in many ways including the strength of their squads though of course we’ll need to watch a couple of matches to see how they both gel as a unit.

The best advice is to back the side batting first at anything bigger than 4/6 based on that toss bias. If it’s the Phoenix doing so, you should be able to get evens and that’s a bet. But we’ll leave this alone for the purpose of a pre-match tip.

0.5pts Back Tim David to be Rockets Top Batsman @ 11/2

Tim David is a little bit of an anomaly player in that he seems to have made the number 6 spot his own in most teams he plays for. That’s normally the spot of the batting all-rounder but he seems to like it there and many teams have resisted the temptation to have him come in higher and face more deliveries.
But the Phoenix may see things differently and have him at five or even four and take the view that 20-odd balls of David are worth more than if anyone else were facing them, so he may well get a promotion.
If he does, he’ll have every chance, especially given that this is a ground to accelerate at the end and go ballistic in the death overs. His average of 20 in the Hundred is ok rather than great, but look at that strike rate of 170.
One thing is for sure: if he bats at four, you won’t be getting 11/2 on him again anytime soon.