Manchester Originals vs Northern Superchargers Prediction: Putting our money where our mouth is on 10/3 Tongue

The Superchargers are somewhat surprisingly top while the Originals desperately need a win to climb up the table and be in contention for the Playoffs, with this match having a start time of 14:30, shown live on Sky Sports Cricket. 

Jamie Pacheco is coming off a nice 5/1 winner in the Rockets vs Brave match on Saturday afternoon as he takes us through his thinking on his sole Manchester Originals vs Northern Superchargers Prediction...    

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

Manchester Originals  

The Originals have just one win from four and you'd think that defeat here would pretty much end their Playoff hopes. 

In Phil Salt, Jos Buttler and Heinrich Klassen they have a trio of world-class big hitters and though Salt and Buttler have done their bit, Klassen hasn't. Mark Chapman never really got going either and leaves to be replaced by Rachin Ravindra, who can also bowl some spin.  

Another who needs to step up is Noor Ahmad. He's been excellent in the IPL and for his country over the last couple of years, sometimes out bowling Rashid Khan, but has been expensive here so far.  

Northern Superchargers  

I was a little critical of their seeming absence of 'cricket smarts' ahead of their last match but they won it against the Phoenix and are now top of the table.  

But though they may lack strategy, the all-out aggression shown with the bat is well-suited to this format, while spin twins Adil Rashid and Mitchell Santner have mostly done a good job of keeping the runs down, Rashid being man of the match last time out for his 2-26.  

Perhaps all this shouldn't as too much of a surprise. Neither coach Andrew Flintoff nor skipper Harry Brook seem the complicated types and they prefer to keep a relaxed atmosphere in the camp and let the players express themselves rather than being bogged down by over-thinking. It may work. It may not.  

Pitch and conditions

Old Trafford is one of those wickets where you never quite know what to expect these days. The Brave chased 132 here with just one ball to spare but five days later the Originals posted and defended 163/6. So, it should be a good contest, not just between bat and ball, but between the two sides as a whole.    

Key Odds

The Superchargers are 8/11, implied probability of 58%, with the Originals 11/10, or 47.6%.  

Given the standings, those prices look about right. In the head-to-head record, they've each won two over the years.   

The Originals' best chance might be to bat first and if they can get 160 on the board again, that could well be enough.   

*You can check out all the latest and live Manchester Originals vs Northern Superchargers Odds over on betfred.com

Manchester Originals Top Bowler  

Josh Tongue has an excellent record in this competition with 13 wickets in 7 matches throughout his Hundred career and figures of 3/29 and 3/25 from his two matches this season after being given a break at the end of that India Test series. Those back-to-back there wicket hauls resulted in a win and a tie and though he is admittedly the slight favourite at 10/3, you can see why.  

Normally we'd be a bit worried about 14/5 Noor Ahmad but as we know, he hasn't settled, while 7/2 Scott Currie is the team's leading wicket-taker on eight, but then again, he's played four matches to Tongue's two.  

Northern Superchargers Top Batsman  

This is one of the more competitive markets with Buttler 13/5, Salt 10/3, Klassen a horribly short 7/2 and the incoming Ravindra 4/1. The value, however, is arguably, Ben Mckinney who has been opening and can hit it a mile. If he carries on opening rather than Ravindra, the 9/2 could be of interest.  

Jamie Pacheco Cricket Hundred P/L 2025: 

• Points Staked: 12
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Jamie Pacheco predominantly covers Cricket and European Football for us at Betfred Insights. You can check out his Cricket Betting Tips, along with those from the rest of the team, at our Cricket hub page...