QUEENSLAND XXXX BULLS V PKF TASMANIAN TIGERS
15TH October 03:30 BST Ford Ranger Cup

Both teams are kicking off their domestic one day campaigns here tonight and there is some large value to be nabbed. Tasmania are the reigning champions in this competition and generally an underrated prospect at all times which makes them ideal for shrewd punters!

In the opening game of the 2007-08 season, the Tasmanian's won against Queensland in extremely convincing style on the duckworth-lewis method and will be looking for a similar performance in what should be an exciting match.
Wins have been notched up for Victoria and New South Wales in the opening two matches so far this year but the table will not really start to take shape until a few games in. Brad Hodge was particularly impressive for Victoria and if he keeps that sort of form up, he can always be in contention for National Team selection.

Brett Geeves and Ben Hilfenhaus leading the Tasmanian attack will be a real handful for the Queenslanders so they will need to bat pretty well on what should be a difficult wicket to bat on as was proved in the recent Sheffield Shield match where all forty wickets fell for less than a total of 550 runs in the encounter which was finished within three days.
Don't expect quite such a green top as that as runs should be expected for sure but do not expect massive scores, this Gabba wicket should be a 240 par surface and batting first should not really make a massive difference.

For Queensland the major hope really is that Andrew Symonds can get himself in and score big because when he gets going there are few better in world cricket. Problem for them really is that he is likely to be lacking in quality partners however captain Chris Simpson is a capable and gutsy performer with the bat and his off-spin tweaks should come in handy too.

With the bowling standard considered to be above average for the Tazzies it is even perhaps eclipsed by the batting side of things. Even without Ricky Ponting they have Travis Birt, Michael Dighton, Dan Marsh, George Bailey and Tim Paine, these are highly capable batsmen who are able to construct setting a total or break down a significant chase.

My feeling is that in either scenario Tasmania are the likelier winner and are terrific value at odds against in this match. For me the Bulls are much more likely to win if they bat first and put a competitive total on the board and look to strangle the Tigers batting through run pressure combined with tight discipline in the field. Hard to look past the 2.2 generously offered by Boylesports though.

RECOMMENDATIONS - 3.5 Points on Tasmania @ 2.2 (Boylesports)
0.5 Points on Chris Simpson Top Queensland Run Scorer @ 5.5 (Bet365)
0.5 Points on Travis Birt Top Tasmania Run Scorer @ 6 (Bet365)

Crafty Stan