Southern Brave vs MI London The Hundred 2026 Match 9, Fantasy Cheat Sheet: Rose Bowl, July 27

By comefantasy365 Editorial Desk · Updated July 27, 2026 · 9 min read · Fantasy Cricket

Southern Brave host MI London in Match 9 of The Hundred Men's 2026 on Monday, July 27 at the Rose Bowl in Southampton. The Hundred's 100-ball format shortens build plans, and both sides arrive with at least one recent defeat. The fixture matters for fantasy because Southern Brave have lost both openers while MI London split their opening pair, leaving room for either side to move up the early standings.

MI London hold a 5-1 head-to-head edge across six previous meetings, and three of the four matches at this venue have been won by the chasing side. That is the deciding fact for daily-play lineups: build a chase template and a bat-first template before the coin lands, and choose the captaincy only after both probable XIs are confirmed.

Southern Brave started the tournament with two losses. Their most recent outing was a narrow 5-run defeat to Sunrisers Leeds at Headingley. Brave conceded 187 for 5 in the full hundred balls, with Jamie Smith, Ben McKinney and Tristan Stubbs all contributing. A 5-run margin after conceding 187 shows the batting order can chase nearly any Hundred total when the top three fire — the issue is the bowling unit, not the chase math.

MI London opened the tournament with a win and then lost by 60 runs to Welsh Fire in Cardiff. Against Welsh Fire, they conceded 167 for 5, with Rachin Ravindra scoring 98 and James Vince making 66 off 38 balls. That is a useful negative signal: when a left-handed top-order pairing settles, MI London's bowling unit is exposed. Their likely retort tonight is Pooran at three or four against a similar Brave left-hander cluster.

Across six previous meetings between these two Hundred sides, MI London have won five. That is the kind of lopsided record that shifts ownership into the chalk tier. It also means Brave are likely to be under-owned in large-field contests, which is exactly where captain differentials live if Brave's chase unit clicks.

The Rose Bowl note is sharper than the raw H2H. Three of the four previous fixtures at this ground were won by the chasing side. That has two immediate consequences for lineup construction. First, batting first is not automatically a winning template here — it is closer to neutral. Second, picking the captain from the side that bowls first is usually correct because that side ends the innings with the bat. For tonight, if MI London bowl first, captain Pooran or Vince. If Southern Brave bowl first, captain Pooran or Vince from the Brave chase unit.

The one meeting where the chasing side did not win tends to be the rain-shortened or low-scoring outlier. There is no rain in the Southampton forecast for July 27, so a full hundred-ball contest is the expected script.

The probable Southern Brave XI: Jamie Smith (wk), Ben McKinney, Marcus Stoinis, David Miller, Tristan Stubbs, Nikhil Chaudhary, Chris Jordan (capt), Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Luke Wood, Daniel Worrall. Jordan is the captain and the death-over pace lead. Smith at the top keeps keeper ceiling open. The left-right balance through Miller and Chaudhary gives Rashid a spin mismatch to exploit against left-handers.

The probable MI London XI: Will Jacks, James Vince, Jason Roy, Sam Curran (capt), Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Tom Curran, Rashid Khan, Trent Boult, Richard Gleeson, Nathan Sowter. Pooran as keeper-batter at four is the structural difference. It shifts Roy into a powerplay-only role and gives Curran a fifth-bowler length batting slot. That lineup has the cleaner 100-ball chase ceiling on paper.

Three lineup details matter more than the rest. First, Jofra Archer's overs share — when he is held back for the death, Brave's powerplay economy suffers. Second, Rashid Khan's bowling slot — if MI London use him in the middle five, that compresses Brave's middle-order scoring window. Third, Trent Boult's role — new ball or death changes his fantasy ceiling dramatically. Lock the captain only after these three are confirmed.

Start with the highest-floor name: Nicholas Pooran. He scored 58 off 22 balls in the opening fixture and is flagged in the verified source as a key fantasy pick. As keeper-batter batting at four, his ceiling combines powerplay acceleration (if Roy falls early) with a death-window finish. He is the locked captain in head-to-head contests.

Next is Rashid Khan. The same verified source flags him alongside Pooran. Rashid Khan's Hundred role is middle-overs control with wicket upside, and on a Rose Bowl surface that has historically rewarded spin in the middle phase, his four-over allocation is a clean bowling-captain path. Build at least one grand-league entry that uses Rashid as captain, especially if MI London bowl first.

Third lane is James Vince. He opened the Cardiff innings with 66 off 38 and has the venue familiarity from Hampshire days. As a top-order anchor he carries strike-rate risk against Archer in the powerplay, but his boundary bonus on a flat Rose Bowl track makes him the safer differential captain if you want to fade the Pooran chalk.

Fourth is Adil Rashid, the Brave leg-spinner. He took three wickets in five balls in the Headingley loss — that was the brief, sharp window that showed what his wicket ceiling looks like. He is the cleanest bowling-captain differential on the Brave side, but only if the pitch offers turn in the middle overs. If the Rose Bowl stays flat under sunny conditions, his ceiling drops. Use him as a flex captain in a second lineup, not as the primary captain.

The forecast for Southampton is sunny, around 25 degrees Celsius. That is not a swing-and-seam morning. That is a flat, dry Hundred surface where batters settle, where 150-plus is par, and where captain ceiling comes from boundary accumulation rather than early wickets.

Flat surface plus short boundary square of the wicket means the chase advantage compresses. Three of four previous meetings at the Rose Bowl were won by the chasing side, but those matches had some seam and overcast windows in their slate. A fully sunny day tilts the script slightly back toward the side batting first posting a defendable total. That does not erase the chase edge; it just narrows it from a strong trend to a marginal one.

For fantasy, the practical adjustment is simple. Treat bowling captains (Rashid Khan and Adil Rashid) as second-tier captain paths rather than primary. Promote top-order batting captains (Pooran, Vince, Roy) into your primary lineup. Save the bowling differential for one grand-league entry where you accept lower ownership in exchange for a higher multi-hit ceiling.

Hundred fantasy rewards boundary bonuses and strike-rate thresholds more than most formats. That changes who the captain should be in a flat-surface contest. Pooran at four with a flat track and a short square boundary is a boundary multiplier the equal of any Hundred captain option. Vince opening against Archer is a controlled risk with a higher boundary density than most anchors.

Rashid Khan's captain value comes from wicket clusters. Three wickets in five balls is the kind of swing that wins a multi-entry grand league on its own. On a flat Rose Bowl pitch, that ceiling is still real but lower probability. Treat him as the captain of your second or third lineup, not the primary captain.

The cleanest lineup logic is therefore: captain Pooran in your primary head-to-head entry, captain Vince or Roy in a differential batting-heavy entry, captain Rashid Khan in a bowling-differential grand-league entry. That three-entry split spreads ownership while keeping a high-floor anchor.

MI London's 5-1 head-to-head edge plus their opening win will drag ownership toward their top order. Pooran, Vince and Rashid Khan will all clear 30% in large-field contests. That is the right side of the floor for head-to-head and small leagues. It is the wrong side of uniqueness for grand leagues.

Use the chalk correctly. In head-to-head and 50/50s, captain Pooran and build around Vince, Rashid Khan and Boult. The floor wins the small-field contest. In grand leagues, take that same lineup as one entry, then add a second entry that captains Vince with Roy and Archer as flex picks, and a third entry that captains Rashid Khan with Stoinis as the Brave differential at six or seven.

Avoid forcing all three entries onto the same captain. That is the surest way to lose uniqueness without gaining floor. The third lineup is where your edge lives, not your first.

1. Confirm both probable XIs and any late injury replacement. Archer and Boult are the most likely late changes based on workload.
2. Check Vince and Roy's opening order. If Roy drops to three, his powerplay ceiling falls and Vince's anchor role rises.
3. Confirm Rashid Khan's bowling slot. If MI London use him in the middle five, his wicket ceiling rises. If they hold him for the death against Bravo's right-handers, his economy bonus drops.
4. Verify Trent Boult's role. New-ball Boult is a different fantasy asset than death-overs Boult.
5. Watch the toss. If MI London bowl first, lock Pooran or Vince as captain. If Brave bowl first, consider Archer as a differential captain with the new ball.
6. Reprice Adil Rashid only if the Rose Bowl pitch is reported to be offering turn in the middle overs. On a flat track, his ceiling is lower.
7. Save one bowling captain (Rashid Khan) for a grand-league multi-entry. Do not force him into the primary cash entry.

For broader squad-construction fundamentals and captain-multiplier math that apply across Hundred fixtures, see the Fantasy Cricket editorial desk guides.

The 5-1 head-to-head, the opening win, and the cleaner chase lineup on paper all tilt the favourite tag toward MI London. That tilt is the starting point, not the only data. Southern Brave have lost both openers, but one of those was a 5-run margin — and the chase unit with Smith, Stoinis and Miller is built for exactly the kind of flat-surface 100-ball chase that the Rose Bowl tends to produce.

The favourite tag is a weighting tool, not a single-lineup instruction. Favourite sides generate chalk ownership. The fantasy edge lives in knowing which chalk names are role-secure (Pooran, Rashid Khan) and which home counters still clear price (Smith, Stoinis, Archer) when the toss flips the script.

Watch two facts only: the toss decision and the first confirmed over allocations. If MI London bowl first, Pooran's chase role stays intact and Rashid Khan's middle-overs wicket ceiling rises. If Brave bowl first, Smith and Archer become the cleaner captain pair and Rashid Khan's slot compresses. Rebuild only the captain and one flex all-rounder after those two facts land. Leave the rest of a researched core alone.

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