The Hundred men's winner predictions, odds and cricket betting tips

Free cricket tips, best bets and analysis for The Hundred men's, starting on Wednesday.

Best bet

Oval Invincibles to win The Hundred men's
1pt 13-2 bet365, Betfred

The Hundred men's preview

After a pretty successful inaugural campaign in 2021, cricket's flashiest new franchise competition The Hundred makes its return on Wednesday with the men's tournament starting one week before the women's.

Southern Brave came out on top in the men's version of the 100-ball tournament last year, defeating a strong Birmingham Phoenix side by 32 runs in the final at Lord's.

And it is no surprise to see last year's finalists lead the way in the betting for the 2022 edition.

Brave are 10-3 to come out on top once again and are a fair price given their depth and the fact they are led by top skipper James Vince, who is fresh from leading Hampshire Hawks to the Twenty20 Blast title.

There is plenty of power in their batting core, made up of Tim David, Marcus Stoinis and Quinton de Kock and they are worthy favourites.

But this tournament is still in its infancy and it remains to be seen how easy a title this will be to defend.

The Southampton-based side will also have to play through parts of the season without de Kock and Stoinis and although they could have the players to cover those absences, there is better value further down the betting.

Last season's runners-up Birmingham will fancy their chances with 2021 Player of the Series Liam Livingstone at their disposal, while having captain and former T20 Blast winner Moeen Ali fully available is a big plus.

But their middle-order still seems weaker than their rivals and the availability of top-order batsman Tom Abell is uncertain.

At 13-2, Oval Invincibles look big and are worth chancing.

They just missed out on the playoffs last year, registering four wins, and could well follow on from the success of the women's side in 2021.

Jason Roy has been going through a tough patch but The Hundred could give him a great chance of rediscovering his form, while in Sam Curran they have a top left-handed all-rounder fresh from a decent T20 Blast campaign.

The Invincibles also did well to snap up Rilee Rossouw, who spanked 623 runs for Somerset in the T20 Blast, for only £60,000 earlier this year and he is sure to make the most of playing at the Oval.

As for the bowling department, they will be in possession of one of England's hottest assets in Reece Topley, who took a total of 19 wickets in white-ball cricket for England this summer.

As for other candidates, Welsh Fire's overreliance on an underperforming Jonny Bairstow is concerning, while Trent Rockets lacked firepower at the crease last year, although spinner Tabraiz Shamsi should enhance their threat with the ball.

London Spirit finished rock bottom in 2021 but are sure to improve this time around with Big Bash star Ben McDermott coming in and Glenn Maxwell set to be involved after missing the 2021 campaign.

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