Trent Rockets vs Southern Brave Prediction: Ahmed or Willey can launch Rockets innings

This is a big game for two sides who are very much in contention for the Playoffs and who will welcome a win here to have one foot in the next round, with the match played Saturday afternoon, start time 14:30, live on Sky Sports Cricket.

Jamie Pacheco talks us through his analysis and his top tips for the match as we take in his Trent Rockets vs Southern Brave predictions...

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

Trent Rockets

The Rockets were going well in the tournament but came unstuck against the Superchargers, who posted and defended 162 pretty easily.

162 was always going to be a stiff target to chase but the fact they fell 21 runs short is a bit of a concern. Joe Root may be the second-highest run scorer in the history of Test match cricket but the Hundred is a very different kettle of fish to the patient waiting game of the longest format and the penny is yet to drop for Root that in this form of the game, you can’t prize your wicket too much, especially at the expense of returning a poor strike rate.

But we shouldn’t be too critical of a side with two wins out of three who look well-balanced, and they’ll surely be in the mix for the play-offs.

They do have an issue to fix though with the likely absence of Akeal Hossein for this fixture and the rest of the tournament as he travels back home to play in the CPL. He did an excellent job of bowling spin in the powerplay overs, and he’ll leave a big hole.

Southern Brave

The Brave posted a respectable 139/5 against the Superchargers and should really have won the game but a poor final ball from Tymal Mills cost them, it went for six, and what could well have been a win became a defeat.

There were excellent contributions with the bat from James Coles (49 off 36) and Laurie Evans (53 off 34) but everyone bar Jofra Archer was quite expensive with the ball.

Archer will surely be rotated at some stage, while skipper James Vince may have to sit this one out with a minor injury. Chris Jordan didn’t bowl at all in the last match after suffering an injury while fielding so he could miss out, too.

Key Odds

The Rockets are somewhat surprisingly the 11/10 outsiders here, implied probability 47.6%, with the Brave 8/11, or 57.9% if you prefer.

Surprising because they’re tied on points and you’d think home advantage would tip the scales in favour of the Rockets.

If forced to play this market, I’d go with the Rockets but there isn’t much in it, so we’ll look elsewhere.

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

Trent Rockets Top batsman

We’ve backed both Rehan Ahmed and David Willey at juicy prices over the last week or so and though neither won, they’ve both come pretty close.

Bizarrely, Ahmed is chalked in to come in at 6 or 7 every game, yet has batted in the Top 4 in all three when it comes to it.

If we assume that they’ll bat at three and four in whatever order again, it could be a smart strategy to split stakes between the two, with both more than capable of winning this heat.

Splitting stakes between Willey and Ahmed - both 6/1 – and hoping wicket falls early to get them in the game, looks the sensible approach.

Trent Rockets Top Bowler 

Marcus Stoinis is back bowling after a few years where he was playing solely as a batsman.

And not only has he been good, but he’s been trusted with bowling the tough overs at the end of the innings which may go for runs but also result in wickets.

That’s why he’s taken 5 wickets in 4 games so far and won this heat last time out as the sole bowler to take two wickets for his side. Bowling at the death is always an advantage in terms of wicket-taking potential and he’s been given his full quota of 20 more often than not, so 5/1 is a pretty good price, all things considered.

Jamie Pacheco Cricket Hundred P/L 2025: 

• Points Staked: 12
• Points Returned: 6.75 
• Current P/L: -5.25  

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...