NOR vs WRW 29th Match - North Group Prediction

NOR vs WRW Team Previews

Northamptonshire

In their last game against Derbyshire, David Willey returned to Northamptonshire and the team finally managed to get their campaign off with a win. It was a hard-fought victory against Derbyshire with 6-wickets and 2 overs to spare. David Willey was immediately in the thick of things. He not only bowled 4 tight overs he also picked up a catch on the boundary. In addition to this, he scored a battling knock of 31 runs while batting at number 3 position. This provided a perfect base for Northampts to craft a win.

The Derbyshire bowling attack had leaked more than 70 runs in their earlier games. But they restricted Northampton to 29 for 1 in this game. However, this was not to be sufficient. They have not registered 3 losses in a row. Northampton provided some leeway to Willey allowing him a chance to work with things. He was immediately in partnership with Chris Lynn resulting in 64 runs. The Northamptonshire have a dangerous batting line-up and the inclusion of the left-arm spinner Freddie Heldreich for the 1st time during the season added variety to their bowling attack.

Although Northampton lost the wicket of Ricardo Vasconcelos early in their innings, the stand between Willey and Lynn kept them in the match. Derbyshire showed a lot of spirit while defending a modest total. Reece managed to remove both these batters in 3 balls with Willey holing to deep square leg and Lynn dragging on. This was the time when an opportunity was provided to Derbyshire. However, Saif Zaib received a reprieve when he was 14. After that, the Northamptonshire batting made light work of the remaining target with Zaib finishing off the things in style.

Birmingham Bears

The cricket team of Birmingham Bears succeeded in extending their 100% record to a 3rd match against Lancashire Lightning. It was a commanding 7-wicket win in front of a crowd of more than 11000 people at Edgbaston. After electing to bat first, Lancashire Lightning were bowled out for a score of 98 runs. They lost their last 7 wickets for 36 runs from 35 balls. The main perpetrator for this debacle was Danny Briggs who picked up 4 wickets for 15 runs. Dan Mousley picked up 3 wickets for 13 runs and Jake Lintott picked up 2 for 24. Just Steven Croft succeeded in scoring more than 20 runs for the visiting Lancashire team. 

The Lancashire team had to strike early as the Bears started their response but the Bears openers Alex Davies and Rob Yates did not allow a whiff and this pair took the score to 50 runs by the 7th over. In the end, the Bears reached the target for 3 wickets and with as many as 34 balls to spare. When Maxwell picked up an early wicket, the Bears realized that there will some assistance for the bowlers from this track, and spinners can take advantage.<br /> For Lancashire Phil Salt was ruled out with a back spasm. Josh Bohannan came into the 

Lightning team for opening their innings. However, he lost his wicket on the 4th ball of the innings. Luke Wells who was the star of the show in the win against Falcons at the same venue around 9 days earlier, lost his wicket early due to a super return catch by Mousley. Croft hammered 18 runs quickly from 4 balls from Henry Brookes and the innings seemed as if it was finally underway until the bowler caught him at square leg. Lancashire fell in a heap after this.