The Preliminary Final of the Ford Trophy 2020-21 will be played between Northern Districts and Wellington Firebirds on 3rd March at the Seddon Park in Hamilton.
Northern Knights Team Updates:
After getting outplayed by the Firebirds, Northern Districts will be looking to make things go their way in the preliminary final.
Northern Districts ended their league stage on high by defeating the Stags convincingly.
Joe Carter’s men have played some good cricket and finished second in the league stage with 26 points.
Jeet Raval and Katene Clarke will probably open the inning for the ND team.
Joe Carter (c), BJ Watling (wk), Colin de Grandhomme will form the middle order.
Henry Cooper, Brett Hampton, Scott Kuggeleijn will form the lower order of the team.
Joe Carter will lead the ND team as a Captain. He is also good Batsman.
BJ Watling will do the wicket keeping for ND team.
Joe Walker , Scott Kugglejein and Matt Fisher will lead the pace attack of the team.
Wellington Firebirds Team Updates:
Firebirds are coming off a match where they scored the highest team total in the tournament’s history.
They must be high in confidence with the sensational batting display, which played a key role in making them finish in the third spot in the points table.
They defeated Northern Districts on both occasions earlier this season.
Finn Allen and Tom Blundell will probably open the inning for the WF team. Both are well known inning openers.
Jakob Bhula, Michael Bracewell, Troy Johnson (c) will form the middle order.
Fraser Colson, Jamie Gibson will take care of the lower order.
Troy Johnson will lead the WF team as a Captain. He is also a good Batsman.
Tom Blundell will do the Wicket Keeping duty for his WF team.
Ollie Newton , Peter Younghusband and Logan van Beek will take care of the pace attack for his team.
Last 2 Head to Head:
Northern Knights: 0 Won Wellington Firebirds: 2 Won
Firebirds defeasted Northern in the last 2 games played this season and this will make their confidence high.
Top Picks
Jeet Raval has been the top scorer for Northern Districts with 371 runs at an average of 37.10.
Michael Bracewell scored an unbeaten 64 in the last game he faced Northern Districts, In addition to that, he also grabbed 9 wickets so far this season.
Brett Hampton is the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament so far. He has 17 wickets in his bag at an average of 23.
Tom Blundell is a reliable batsman and his impressive average of nearly 50 is a testament to that.
Fantasy Tips
In wicket keeping, both the wicket keepers are good. You can choose anyone.
As there are chances of rain, so try to pick top order batsman in the team.
Captain Options – Michael Bracewell, Jeet Raval
Vice-Captain Options – Tom Blundell, Brett Hampton
Squads
ND Squad :
Jeet Raval, Katene Clarke, Joe Carter(C), BJ Watling(WK), Colin de Grandhomme, Henry Cooper, Brett Hampton, Scott Kuggeleijn, Anurag Verma, Joe Walker, Brett Randell, Tim Seifert(WK), Matt Fisher, Dean Brownlie, Peter Bocock(WK), Kane Williamson, Anton Devcich, Fred Walker, Mitchell Santner, James Baker, Zak Gibson, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner
WF Squad :
Finn Allen, Tom Blundell(WK), Jakob Bhula, Michael Bracewell, Troy Johnson(C), Fraser Colson, Jamie Gibson, Logan van Beek, Peter Younghusband, Ollie Newton, Iain Mcpeake, Devon Conway, Hamish Bennett, Ben Sears, Michael Snedden, Lauchie Johns(WK), Andrew Fletcher, Rachin Ravindra, James Hartshorn, Nick Greenwood, Brett Johnson, Jimmy Neesham, Adam Leonard
