T20 Blast: Friday betting preview, free tips and TV details

TV: Northamptonshire v Derbyshire - Sky Sports Cricket, 7pm Friday

Two struggling units in Northamptonshire and Derbyshire clash in front of the TV cameras in the Twenty20 Blast on Friday.

Each side has just one win in this year's tournament but the Falcons looked competitive in their recent defeat to Worcestershire Rapids.

Derbyshire posted a score of 156 in that match, aided by a steady but unbeaten 52 from number four batsman Leus du Plooy.

The middle-order maestro pushed himself up to fifth in the Blast's overall runscoring charts with that total and is on 179 after scores of 27 v Nottinghamshire, 70 v Birmingham and 30 v Yorkshire.

It could be easy to overreact and lump on the 7-1 about du Plooy top-scoring for his side but, given the explosive nature of openers Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Billy Godleman and Luis Reece, it may be better to favour a different approach.

Du Plooy's runs line with Coral is at 20.5, a total he has comfortably surpassed in every Blast game he has played this season, and backing him to exceed that at a shade of odds-on could be the way to go.

Worcestershire have returned to form in recent matches, following their nine-wicket demolition of Durham with the two-wicket scalp of Derbyshire, and they are worth backing against the Yorkshire Vikings.

Two abandonments have stalled the progress of Yorkshire, who are struggling to get the best out of opener David Willey. The left-armer is without a wicket in his last two matches and had an economy rate of 8.75 against Lancashire Lightning last time out.

Among the other six T20 Blast fixtures taking place are Somerset's meeting with Surrey at Taunton and an impressive Kent side's visit to Sussex.

Recommendation
J Du Plooy to score over 20.5 runs for Derbyshire
2pts 5-6 Coral
Worcestershire
1pt 11-10 Hills

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