Success! Thank you for signing up to Independent Betting
The Hundred betting tip:
The Hundred gets back underway for 2023 this August and betting sites are already throwing their weight behind Oval Invincibles and Trent Rockets.
This eight-team tournament – played across both men’s and women’s competitions – is still in its infancy but cricket punters can earmark some potential opportunities to turn a profit.
Each innings lasts just 100 balls and games are designed to generate high run totals and impactful wickets. Fireworks, flashing lights, music: it’s not quite what the traditionalists think cricket should be, but it certainly draws a crowd.
The 2023 Hundred season gets underway on Tuesday 1 August with Trent Rockets vs Southern Brave at Trent Bridge. The finals are scheduled for 27 August at Lord’s.
Here, we look at how both the men’s and women’s tournaments could pan out and who the bookies are backing for success.
The Hundred 2023 Men’s betting
All eyes are on Trent Rockets this year and the big question is whether they’re worth backing once again. They deservedly won the 2022 final after topping the league with six wins from eight, even if their run rate was far worse than Manchester Originals.
What the Rockets had that others didn’t was a deadly top order. Dawid Malan top scored across the league with 377 runs, while Alex Hales (259) and Colin Munro (206) chipped in too. Munro is back as one of the Rockets’ overseas picks, Hales returns and Joe Root will pitch in.
While Trent Rockets are 4/1 to win the men’s Hundred, the Originals, Birmingham Phoenix and Southern Brave are all priced around 5/1 with both established and new betting sites.
Much of this summer’s focus will be on Manchester Originals and Jos Buttler, who is 9/1 with Betway to be the top-scoring batter across the tournament.
Buttler leads last season’s top scorer Malan (11/1), Southern Brave slogger James Vince (12/1) and Hales (12/1) in this market. The Hundred is designed for big hitters and it’s no wonder the guys who thrived last year are back at the top of this cricket betting market again.
Betting on the bowlers, meanwhile, could be trickier with a number of new names coming into The Hundred for 2023.
Shaheen Afridi was Welsh Fire’s top pick in the draft and the Pakistan paceman is thrown in as the 14/1 favourite to claim the most wickets. Adil Rashid, Chris Jordan and Usama Mir are all 15/1. Rashid managed just eight wickets for Northern Supercharges in 2022, and Jordan just three for Southern Brave.
Ones to watch:
Batters: Dawid Malan (Rockets), Jos Buttler (Originals) and James Vince (Brave)
Bowlers: Shaheen Afridi (Fire), Adil Rashid (Supercharges) and Chris Jordan (Brave)
The Hundred 2023 Women’s betting
Cricket betting has been a lot more predictable in the women’s game than the men’s game in recent years.
Oval Invincibles have crushed the competition over the past two years and are the early favourites at 9/2 with Betway to win again.
Captained by Dane van Niekerk, the Invincibles are living up to their name and should be challenging again this term. They remain the team to beat and overcame odds of 15/2 (joint-fourth favourites) to win in 2022.
The bookies have Trent Rockets and Southern Brave as the joint-second favourites at 11/2, while four of the other five teams are floating around 7/1. Only Welsh Fire at 10/1 on cricket betting sites are seemingly out of the race for an eliminator spot here.
Fire did, however, get first choice in the Women’s Hundred draft. They were unable to sign Sophie Devine due to the ‘right to match’ rule that meant the New Zealander went back to Birmingham Phoenix.
Fire went for Sophia Dunkley instead, the England international who top scored for the defeated Brave in last season’s final. Welsh Fire are 7/2 to finish bottom of the pack again this year.
Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana is back playing for Brave and is priced as favourite at 13/2 with Bet365 to top score over the tournament. Mandhana was the fifth highest scorer last year, and top scored in three of Brave’s eight games, but crucially fell on just 17 in the final.
Other contenders for the top batter market include Rockets’ Nat Sciver-Brunt (13/2), Phoenix’s New Zealand superstar Sophie Devine (7/1) and the Invincibles’ Suzie Bates, who scored 232 runs over the 2022 tournament.
Interestingly, last season’s top runs scorer Laura Wolvaardt is only the fifth favourite this year at 13/2, and we're willing to take on those generous odds.
The South African has changed teams from Superchargers to the Originals, after being picked early in the draft. Her odds are likely to shrink if she gets off to a strong start this August, so consider Betway’s 13/2 offer ahead of the start of play.
The bowling odds, meanwhile, don’t correlate at all with the 2022 Women’s Hundred.
Sophie Ecclestone (Originals, 11/2), Amelia Kerr (Spirit, 9/1), Marizanne Kapp (Invincibles, 9/1), and Alana King (Rockets, 10/1) top Bet365’s cricket odds, but none – except Kerr – made it into the top five wicket takers last season.
Amanda Wellington, who bagged 17 wickets in 2022, is down the list at 14/1. She had a middling Super Smash campaign at the start of the year for Northern Districts and was picked up by the Originals for this summer.
Finally, don't forget to check out what free bets are available if you're planning to place a stake on the Hundred.
Ones to watch:
Batters: Smriti Mandhana (Brave), Nat Sciver-Brunt (Rockets) and Laura Wolvaardt (Originals)
Bowlers: Sophie Ecclestone (Originals), Amelia Kerr (Spirit) and Amanda Wellington (Originals)
Updated by
Last Updated: 14th March 2024, 07:22 AM
