Southern Brave vs Oval Invincibles Prediction: Record breakers to maintain momentum

Oval Invincibles lived up to their name on Saturday with an incredible display that saw them smashing the competition's record score. They travel to a Southern Brave outfit still searching for consistency on Monday, live on Sky Sports from 18:30. 

Dan Thomas reflects on the astonishing scenes at the Oval and picks out his best bets as he brings us his Southern Brave vs Oval Invincibles prediction… 

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

Invincibles hit the record books 

Invincibles bounced back from defeat by Birmingham Phoenix in style at a packed Oval on Saturday evening, scoring a staggering 226 for 5 against Welsh Fire.  

Will Jacks and Tawanda Muyeye - perhaps the breakout star of this year's tournament - once again set the platform with an opening stand of 76 but it was Jordan Cox who drove the hosts on to the record total, smashing 10 sixes on his way to 86 not out from just 29 balls.  

Jonny Bairstow did his best to give Fire a fighting chance with a half-century but they were never really in with a chance, with Jason Behrendorff and Tom Curran both impressive with the ball for Oval as they won by 83 runs.  

Brave searching for best form 

Brave's start to this campaign was encouraging, with victories over the Manchester Originals and Birmingham Phoenix, but defeat to Trent Rockets on Saturday afternoon made it back-to-back losses for James Vince's men.  

Leus du Plooy's 55 anchored what looked like a competitive 140 for 4 batting first at Trent Bridge, but the Brave bowlers were hit with a barrage from Tom Moores, whose 55 from 30 balls helped the Rockets take the points with four balls to spare.  

Vince, whose fine form was key to the Brave's run to final in 2024, hasn't got going this year, scoring just 60 in the four games, and he'll need to improve quickly if they are to have a chance of competing.  

Pitch & conditions 

The Utilita Bowl, renowned for its variable bounce and tendency to assist seam bowlers, has not been an easy ground to score on in the Hundred. The average first innings score sits at just 145, with ten of 15 matches played there won by the chasing team. The highest score this year, across the men's and women's tournaments, is just 141. It will be another dry and warm evening in Southampton, with temperatures peaking at 23c.  

Key odds 

Invincibles are rated at 8/11 favourites to make it four wins from five matches, with Brave at 11/10. Given their respective pedigrees, this would probably have been a '10/11 the pair' market before the start of the tournament, but the odds tell their own story.  

Despite his struggles, Vince remains 13/5 to top score for Brave - the 4/1 on opening partner Leus de Plooy who has been more fluent is a more enticing option here. For Invincibles, Jacks is a skinny looking 9/4, with Muyeye and Cox both 7/2. It feels like Donovan Ferreira is due a win in this market given his ability to strike from ball one down the order - he's 9/1.  

On the bowling front, Tymal Mills (3/1) and Jofra Archer (10/3) top the market for Brave with Rashid Khan (14/5) and Sam Curran (7/2) fancied to do the honours for the Invincibles. 

*You can check out all the latest and live Southern Brave vs Oval Invincibles Odds over on betfred.com

Best Bets 

It's hard to look beyond Invincibles here after that record breaking performance at the Oval but 8/11 is too short to be taking on its own. Using the #PickYourPunt specials, we can boost the price to 13/5 by adding the visitors to have the highest opening partnership and hit the most sixes to the straight win. They have hit 43 maximums across the tournament versus 28 for Brave and Jacks and Muyeye have been in fine form up top, in stark contrast to Vince's struggles.  

Dan Thomas 2025 Cricket P/L:

• Staked: 23pts 
• Returned: 13.63pts 
• P/L: -9.37pts