Match Preview
The 5th game of the season sees Otago Sparks go head to head against Northern Brave at the scenic John Davies Oval in Queenstown
Both sides are heading into this fixture in search of their 1st victory, having suffered losses in their respective opening games of the season Sparks are the more balanced of the 2 sides and will start as favourites, but Brave aren’t much behind, having strengthened their side with 2 quality overseas recruitments for this season
H2H Record
This will be the 21st H2H encounter between the 2 sides. With 13 wins, Sparks have the upper hand on the H2H count, with them leading by 13:7
Top Performers H2H
Bernadine Bezuidenhout (NB), Batter- RHB
Inns- 7 | Runs- 200 | Avg- 29
Caitlin Gurrey (NB), Batter- RHB
Inns- 9 | Runs- 288 | Avg- 32
Suzie Bates (OS), All Rounder- RHB/OS
Inns- 13 | Runs- 497 | Avg- 55
Emma Black (OS), Bowler- RAM
Inns- 9 | Wkts- 11 | Avg- 16 | SR- 18
Top Performers at Venue
Eden Carson (OS), Bowler- OS
Inns- 3 | Wkts- 7 | Avg- 8 | SR- 10
Emma Black (OS), Bowler- RAM
Inns- 2 | Wkts- 3 | Avg- 18 | SR- 16
Suzie Bates (OS), All Rounder- RHB/OS
Inns- 4 | Runs- 158 | Avg- 53
Top Picks
Caitlin Gurrey (NB), Batter- RHB
– She top scored for Brave in their previous game with her knock of 66 runs
– She is Brave’s highest run-getter in H2H games
– She has been Brave’s highest run-getter in each of the past 4 seasons
Bernadine Bezuidenhout (NB), Batter- RHB
– She has a good H2H record: Inns- 7 | Runs- 200 | Avg- 29
– She was in top form in the HBJ Shield in lead up to this competition: Inns- 4 | Runs- 184 | Avg- 61.33
Kate Ebrahim (OS), All Rounder- RHB/RAM
– Her career best score of 84* came against this very opposition in 2020
– She picked 13 wickets at an average of 19.76 last season
– She has been in great form with the bat, having scored 256 runs at an average 128 in the HBJ Shield
Emma Black (OS), Bowler- RAM
– She was Sparks’ best bowler in the previous game, finishing with figures of 4-0-24-3
– She is the highest wicket-taker in H2H games: Inns- 9 | Wkts- 11 | Avg- 16 | SR- 18
– She has gone wicketless just once across the last 6 H2H games
Differential Picks
Eden Carson (OS), Bowler- OS
– She was Sparks’ highest wicket-taker last season: Inns- 12 | Wkts- 17 | Avg- 16 | SR- 16
– She is the highest wicket-taker at the venue: Inns- 3 | Wkts- 7 | Avg- 8 | SR- 10
– She’s got a good H2H record as well: Inns- 7 | Wkts- 7 | Avg- 19 | SR- 19
Sophie Oldershaw (OS), Bowler- RALB
– She hasn’t gone wicketless across the last 5 H2H outings
– She picked 14 wickets at an average of 17.5, last season
– She’s picked 5 wickets at a SR of 21.6 in H2H games
Phoebe Graham (NB), Bowler- RAM
– She finished with figures of 4-0-35-2 in the previous game
– Being one of the 2 overseas recruits for the Brave, she’ll look to bring in all her experience throughout the competition
Hayley Jensen (OS), All Rounder- RHB/RAM
– Jensen will be playing her 1st game of the season
– She’s expected to bat at the No. 4 slot
– She has a good all-round record in H2H games: Inns- 3 | Runs- 64 | Avg- 21 | Wkts- 5 | Avg- 19
Safe Captaincy Pick
Suzie Bates (OS), Batter- RHB
– She was the leading run-getter last season: Inns- 12 | Runs- 504 | Avg- 56
– She had a lead of 150+ runs over the 2nd highest run-getter last season
– She is the leading run-getter at the venue: Inns- 4 | Runs- 158 | Avg- 53
– She has done exceedingly well in H2H games: Inns- 13 | Runs- 497 | Avg- 55
– She has resumed bowling now, and is coming into this game with figures of 3-0-17-1 in the previous game
Differential Captaincy Pick
Amanda Wellington (NB), All Rounder- RHB/RALB
– She had a great all-round campaign in her previous season in the competition: Inns- 6 | Runs- 141 | Avg- 47 | Wkts- 9 | Avg- 16
– She’ll be well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the Sparks’ side, having represented them during her 1st season in this competition
– She missed out with the bat in the previous game, but was impressive with the ball, returning with figures of 4-0-17-1
Player to Avoid
Caitlin Blakely (OS), All Rounder- RHB/OS
– Blakely isn’t likely to bowl throughout this season, with Sparks having plenty of better bowling options
– She has scored just the 100 runs despite having batted in as many as 8 H2H games
– She has a very poor overall record in the competition: Inns- 40 | Runs- 311 | Avg- 11 | Wkts- 3
Base Team
WK: Polly Inglis
BAT: Suzie Bates, Caitlin Gurrey, Bernadine Bezuidenhout
AR: Nensi Patel, Kate Ebrahim
BOWL: Hayley Jensen, Amanda Wellington, Emma Black,Eden Carson, Phoebe Graham
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