OV vs NK Match Preview
Michael Rippon will play an important role as an all-rounder, especially as the team is playing its first season without Anaru Kitchen and Neil Broom. We saw flashes of brilliance from Llew Johnson, who scored a quick-fire 24 in the opening match, and expect to see more of him going forward.
Michael Rae was the pick of the bowlers in their previous match, picking 3 wickets for just 13 runs.
The Braves played their opening match last Friday against the Canterbury Kings. The match was reduced to 14 overs a side due to rain. Asked to bat first, the Braves could manage to get just 95 on the board. At one stage, the home team was 2 down with just 16 runs scored. However, Katene Clarke and Joe Carter put up 46 runs to take the Braves to a respectable total.
The bowling was even more lackluster as debutant Tim Pringle was the only one who managed to get a wicket and Canterbury managed to win by 9 wickets. All eyes will be on the performance of Kristian Clarke, who has put up some excellent all-round performances in the U-19 circuit, as well as Joe Walker and Zak Wilson, both of whom will be spearheading the bowling.
Weather Report
The weather is expected to be clear with very few clouds and the temperature will remain in the range of 23-28 degrees Celsius.
Pitch Report
The pitch at Queenstown Oval is good to bat in due to its good and even bounce. The batsmen will be able to play big shots and we might have a high-scoring match on our hands. The average first innings total here is around 155 which is a par score. The spinners are likely to get some turn here as the rough patches form.
Notable stats
Tim Pringle's Economical Bowling
The young left arm just made his T20 debut earlier this year, but has impressed with his economical bowling. In the 14 matches that he has played so far, Pringle has bowled with an economy rate of just 5.75 and has also picked up 8 wickets.
Team News
Since these are early days in the tournament, there are no reports of any injuries in either of the squads and we expect an unchanged eleven for both sides.
OV vs NK Probable 11
OV Playing 11
- Hamish Rutherford (C)
- Dale Phillips (Wk)
- Dean Foxcroft
- Josh Finnie
- Michael Rippon
- Llew Johnson
- Jake Gibson
- Ben Lockrose
- Jacob Duffy
- Matthew Bacon
- Michael Rae
NK Playing 11
- Tim Seifert (Wk)
- Jeet Raval (C)
- Katene Clarke
- Joe Carter
- Mitchell Santner
- Henry Cooper
- Brent Hampton
- Scott Kuggeleijn
- Kristian Clarke
- Tim Pringle
- Joe Walker
Dream11 Prediction
We are backing the Otago Volts to win this one. Their batting looks pretty solid due to the presence of Llew Johnson and also all-rounders like Michael Rippon and Dean Foxcroft. On the other hand, the Braves seem to be struggling to find the right balance of players.
Top Picks
Michael Rippon: Rippon is an excellent all-rounder for the Volts as he can be quite dangerous with the bat lower down the order. In his 88 T20 appearances, Rippon has scored 700 runs and has also picked up 77 wickets.
Llew Johnson: Johnson made his T20 debut back in 2018 but hasn’t played much in the shortest format. He is however a clean striker of the ball and has scored 252 runs at a strike rate of 129.23.
Mitchell Santner: The wily southpaw is a great all-round asset for any team. Santner has scored 1469 T20 runs and has also picked up 146 wickets.
OV vs NK Dream11 Team 1
Keeper: D Phillips
Batters: J Raval, J Carter, L Johnson
All-rounders: M Rippon, M Santner (VC), D Foxtrot (C)
Bowlers: J Duffy, S Kugeeleijn, M Rae, T Pringle
