Surrey vs Middlesex: June 10, Vitality Blast 2021 Prediction

Match Predictions and Team Previews

Surrey will be up against Middlesex in a South Group encounter. The Lord’s Cricket Ground in London will be the venue for this game.

Surrey have been a decent side in the Vitality T20 Blast but they have been a bit inconsistent over the last few years. In the 2018 and 2019 editions of the Vitality T20 Blast, they couldn’t make it past the group stages. However, in the 2020 season, they reached the final but lost to Nottinghamshire in the title clash.

Surrey have some quality players in their side and they seem to have all bases covered. Hashim Amla and Jason Roy alongside the local lads, Laurie Evans and Mark Stoneman, will lead the charge with the bat. On the bowling front, Liam Plunkett and Reece Topley will be the key and Surrey will hope Sam Curran can be available for a few games. Sean Abbott’s injury leaves an overseas player’s slot yet to be filled.

Middlesex have been one of the worst-performing sides in the history of this England T20 competition. They have won just 71 games out of the 201 that they have played. In the last three years, Middlesex have finished in the bottom half of their group points table twice. In 2019, they crashed out in the quarterfinal. Last season, they won just three games out of their 10 and finished third from the bottom in the South Group.

Middlesex have a pretty good batting lineup. There is Paul Stirling (for the first five games), Peter Handscomb, Daryll Mitchell (after the completion of the World Test Championship final), Nick Gubbins among others. However, their bowling seems slightly thin on paper and will need experienced players like Steve Finn and Chris Green to come good.

Thus, it is going to be Surrey who will start this game as favourites. They have a far superior head-to-head record against Middlesex and their overall performance in the Vitality T20 Blast is impressive as well.

Summary

It has largely been Surrey who have dominated in this London-based rivalry. Surrey started this rivalry against Middlesex with seven wins on the trot. While Middlesex did make a comeback, Surrey have dominated a lot more. Surrey have won a total of 22 out of the 34 games between these two sides. Meanwhile, Middlesex have just 12 wins to their name so far. However, in the last few years, it’s been a more evenly contested rivalry with both teams winning five games each in the last 10 encounters.