Southern Brave vs Welsh Fire Prediction: Shooting for the stars with 33/1 and 7/1 shots

The final group game of this year's Hundred sees Southern Brave taking on Welsh Fire on Thursday, live on Sky Sports from 18:30. 

With little on the line, Dan Thomas fancies some big odds winners as he brings us his Southern Brave vs Welsh Fire predictions… 

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

No Vince, no party for Brave 

Southern Brave were comfortably beaten by London Spirit last time out, losing by 47 runs after managing just 139 in reply to Spirit's 186/4.  

Familiar failings at the top of the order, with James Vince only making 4 and Leus de Plooy 7, meant Brave always had a mountain to climb after conceding a score that was well over par for Lord's. 

Jamie Smith was the catalyst for Spirit, scoring 44 off 18 in his new opening role, and Brave may regret not tinkering with their top order in a similar fashion, given their struggles this campaign. The concern that Brave's team performance was over-reliant on Vince has certainly come to pass. 

Jofra Archer is likely to sit this one out, with England in white ball action next week. 

A few flickers for Fire 

Welsh Fire remain rooted to the bottom of the table after a close three-wicket defeat to Trent Rockets last time out, but there have been signs of positivity in recent matches.  

Bringing in Stephen Eskinazi to open the batting has proved fruitful, and he scored an impressive half century against the Rockets, with Tom Abell contributing 48 off 29 balls. Ben Kellaway has also impressed since coming into the team, particularly in the field.  

Steve Smith failed to fire again, however, scoring just 8 and his underperformance for the majority of the campaign has been a key factor in Fire's inability to pick up wins.  

Fire need to overcome history in this one - they have failed to beat Brave once in the Hundred.  

Pitch & conditions 

The Utilita Bowl has been a low scoring ground, with eight of the last first innings scores in the Hundred being sub 140, including all matches this campaign. There is also a massive chase bias in Southampton, with 14 of the 19 Hundred matches being won by the team playing second. There is some rain forecast in the afternoon but it should be dry in the evening for the match. 

Key odds 

Brave are 8/11 to win this one, with Fire rated the 11/10 outsiders. These prices reflect the teams' respective positions in the table, but the Welsh outfit might be slightly overpriced here given recent momentum. Probably one to consider in-play given the bias to chasers.  

The odds-makers haven't deserted Vince despite his lack of form and he remains favourite to top score for Brave at 11/4, with du Plooy at 7/2. Hilton Cartwright won this market for two consecutive matches, before missing out last time out - he looks a good price at 7/1. Smith and Jonny Bairstow top the market for Fire at 10/3 and 3/1; Eskinazi looks the best angle here at 7/2 on the back of his half-century against Rockets.  

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

Best Bets 

With this being a dead rubber and on a low scoring pitch, it's worth having a go at some of the bigger prices in the top batter market; we've seen Jamie Overton and Samit Patel win at double-figure prices this week already with late order thrashes. 

We'll go in with half a point on Cartwright at 7/1 - he's a streaky player who tends to go on scoring runs - and a speculative half a point on Chris Jordan at a chunky 33/1. He has the ability to hit the ball cleanly and clear the ropes regularly.  

With Archer likely to miss out, we'll add Tymal Mills to be top Brave bowler at 3/1 to the portfolio. The pacer has not been at his absolute best in the tournament but he's already picked up eight wickets and the wicket is likely to be helpful on Thursday evening. 

Dan Thomas 2025 Cricket P/L:

• Staked: 32pts 
• Returned: 26.33pts 
• P/L: -6.67pts 

Find more Cricket Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights