Gloucestershire vs Essex, ENG DOMESTIC ODI, Today Match Prediction 28 July 2024

GLO vs ESS Match Prediction & Analysis

Essex make the trip to Bristol for a match against Gloucestershire on Sunday. This Group B match in the One-Day Cup 2024 will be crucial for both teams, who have made a winless start to the season. In the case of hosts Gloucestershire, the start was not worrisome with the team putting up a decent fight against Glamorgan in the opening game. Gloucestershire ended up losing by a 27-run margin. Essex, however, had a worrying start with the team losing by a seven-wicket margin to Warwickshire despite boasting a total of 300+ on an excellent pitch.

Essex and Gloucestershire meet each other for the first time since 2021 when the former was able to get a narrow victory in the final ball. On the head-to-head front, the two teams are very evenly matched with two wins each for Essex and Gloucestershire in the last four outings.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Gloucestershire Preview

Gloucestershire were disappointed to lose a thrilling game against Glamorgan in the opener. Even though losing the Severnside derby is a big disappointment, Gloucestershire players can be proud of their effort. For a decent chunk of the game, Gloucestershire appeared to be in a good position to grab the win. It was only a late collapse that took away the potential for a winning start to the competition.

Despite having brought Glamorgan down to numbers of 122/6 by the 23rd over, Gloucestershire were unable to prevent the late hammering aided by Ben Kellaway.

James Bracey was the star of the show for Gloucestershire with his 86 runs from just 79 balls. The innings witnessed nine boundaries and three sixes. However, there was not any significant contribution from the rest of the batting line-up. In fact, Gloucestershire collapsed from being in a position of 156-5 to end up being bowled out for 160 in the late overs.

Dominic Goodman and Ajeet Singh Dale were able to have a positive impact with the ball. Both picked up a total of five wickets even if Goodman’s economy figures took a beating with a flurry of boundaries and sixes.

Gloucestershire Predicted Playing XI:

Miles Hammond, Cameron Bancroft, Oliver Price, James Bracey, Ben Charlesworth, Jack Taylor (c), Graeme van Buuren, Zaman Akhter, Josh Shaw, Dominic Goodman, Ajeet Singh Dale

Essex Preview

Essex were hoping to get off to a good start in 2024 after having struggled throughout the 2023 season with only one victory. Even though the team were able to get off to a good start with Nick Browne almost grabbing a century, Essex had no answers to the impressive batting order from Warwickshire, who were able to chase down a 324 total with 14 balls left.

After finishing bottom of Group A in 2023, Essex will be keen on getting off the mark as soon as possible. The team can take positives from the powerful batting performances of Browne, while Charlie Allison and Luc Benkenstein were able to demonstrate strength lower down the order.

Essex have to work on their bowling line-up a lot more with the team only picking up three wickets in almost 50 overs. Jamal Richards had the best figures for the Essex teammate an economy figure of 5.42. Meanwhile, many of the Essex bowlers were sent for a hammering across the pitch. Benkenstein was particularly disappointing after conceding 51 from his six overs.

Essex Predicted Playing XI:

Nick Browne, Feroze Khushi, Tom Westley (c), Robin Das, Charlie Allison, Luc Benkenstein, Noah Thain, Jamal Richards, Ben Allison, Aaron Beard, Simon Fernandes

Weather Conditions

The pitch is expected to be in favour of batsmen especially in the first half. Last season, the average first innings score was a sizeable 360+. The weather conditions in Bristol are expected to be excellent with mostly sunny conditions and a temperature of around 26°C. Even if there are showers, it is expected to be early in the morning and unlikely to trouble the game.

GLO vs ESS Pitch Report

The County Ground in Bristol will be the venue for this Group B match. The average first innings score of all the Group B matches from the One-Day Cup 2023 stands at 360. The average second innings score from the same set of matches is 262.

Toss: To Bat

The County Ground in Bristol is known for having a balanced pitch which has not provided a significant advantage for the toss winner. In the 2023 group matches on this ground, the teams batting first had a 50% winning rate and there may not be any substantial advantage to the toss winner this time around. Still, the preference will be to bat first.