Wellington Firebirds vs Central Stags match prediction

The two teams in question, Wellington Firebirds and the Central Stags, have fought neck and neck over the years in the Super Smash and history promises a great contest ahead.

Ever heard of mid-week blues? It’s exactly what you’re feeling right now, not too close to Saturday and yet considerably far from the Monday that has passed. But at any point of the week, it just gets better when there’s some cricket on. Your wait will be over when the very able Central Stags take on their good old rivals Wellington Firebirds on Friday, December 27. In their previous encounter, in this very same season, the Stags emerged victorious. To add cherry on the cake, we have handpicked some really exciting yet safe bets you can place on the game.

The Firebirds are expected to start strong...

Wellington Firebirds to score more runs in the first 6 overs @ 2.00

With the twelfth match of this edition of the Super Smash set to put the Wellington Firebirds and the Central Stags in a clash, expect a great contest. Let’s start with the bet that doubles up your earnings to make your weekend great. While the defending champions seem to be the stronger team at least in the last couple of seasons, that does not mean that the Wellington side let their opponents leave easy. Even against the Stags, the Firebirds have kept their scoring game high. That’s what I found out when I looked at the form of the two teams. As I dug deeper, I discovered that the Wellington side are ones with a much higher probability to score more runs in the first six overs.

First of all, the form of Wellington reveals that the team, in the last five Super Smash games, has scored more runs in the Powerplay than their opponents on four occasions. Coming to the Central Districts side, in their last five completed Super Smash outings, they have scored more runs than their opponents in the first six overs only twice. As far as their head to head record in powerplays is concerned, in their last three encounters, the Firebirds have trumped the Stags’ powerplay total twice. In their last five innings, the Wellington side has scored 52.6 runs on an average when compared to Stags’ 51.8 runs. On the basis of the data, expect the Wellington side to score big in the powerplay.

...but eventually fall behind.

Central Stags to win the game @ 1.72

While we’ve soared high with a double earning deal at the beginning, let’s take the flight to a more reasonable level with this bet which is as safe as well as exciting. Let’s look at the form of the champions of the previous edition. The Stags started this season with a gigantic 120-run win over the Northern Districts, and in their all four games so far have only lost a single game. In their last five completed games, the Stags have won four contests including the 2018/19 final. Meanwhile, the Wellington Firebirds have only won two of their last five Super Smash games.

Now, coming to their head to head record, in the last five contests between the two teams, across three seasons of the T20 competition, Wellington has managed to beat the Central Districts team only once. With the likes of Tom Bruce, Seth Rance, Ajaz Patel and Kieran Noema-Barnett in top form, the Stags are sure to fire. As the odds for the Central Stags winning the game placed at 1.72, I definitely think this is one bet you shouldn’t miss out on.

Central Stags to hit more sixes @ 2.20

Looking at the data so far, we have established that the Central Districts is a more stable side with the Wellington Firebirds being a more breezy side. It’s not always that the numbers of a team back their reputation. Going back to our first argument, it’s already proven that the Wellington side tend to score more in the Powerplay when compared to the Stags. However, looking at the form and numbers, we’ve found out that the latter has hit more sixes than their opponents. While the Wellington batsmen have hit their fair share of boundaries, their sixes count has been lacking in both H2H matches and in their last 3 games.

Looking at their form, in the last five Super Smash games, only once have the Central Districts side have hit less sixes than their opponents. On the other hand, the Wellington side have hit more sixes than their opponents in only two out of their last five games. In their last five games, the Stags have hit 6.2 sixes on average, whereas the Firebirds have hit 3.8 sixes. Now coming to their head to head form, the Stags have scored more sixes thrice in the last five games against Wellington. They have an average of 7 sixes per games against the Firebirds, with the latter scoring 5.4 sixes on average. The top order of the Stags have an average strike rate of 139, whereas the Wellington batsmen score at a rate of 129.27. With the likes of Tom Bruce, Dane Cleaver, George Worker, the hard-hitters in the team, the Stags are surely to go for the big ones more often than their opponents.