Venue: Basin Reserve

Pitch & Conditions:

A very slowish track where you have to be patient as a batsman & wait for your opportunity to hit, rather than just going from the very first ball.

Pacers with good slower ones & quality spinners are likely to succeed here. And that’s why Firebirds are so difficult to beat at home, because their bowlers use these conditions really well.

Squad News:

Auckland Aces

Craig Cachopa(c), Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Mitch Mclenaghan, Glen Phillips(wk), Matt Quinn, Lockie Ferguson, Robbie ODonnell, Ronnie Hira, Donovan Grobbelaar, Mark Chapman, Will Sommerville.

Wellington Firebirds

Hamish Bennett(c), Tom Blundell(wk), Ollie Newton, Michael Bracewell, Troy Johnson, Iain Mcpeake, Ben Sears, Devon Conway, Adam Hose, Jeetan Patel, Luke Woodcock, Jimmy Neesham , Logan Van Beek

Expected 11:

Firebirds:

Conway, Bracewell, Hose, Neesham, Blundell (wk), Woodcock, Van Beek, Newton, McPeake, Jeetan, Bennett (C)

Aces:

Guptill, Munro, Phillips (Wk),  Chapman, Cachopa (C), O’Donnell, Hira, Somerville, McClenaghan, Fergusan, Quinn.

From the Vault:

(This section will give you insights from past games of the two teams in T20’s & odi’s combined & also at the same venue.)

Going by the numbers, Auckland Aces best Batsmen against Firebirds is Mark Chapman, who interestingly, is currently looking the most out of form among them.

Jimmy Neesham (who earlier was with Otago) likes the conditions at his new home too. Of course, the kind of form he’s in, he can smash at any ground right now but his bowling suits the conditions too.

Munro on the other hand, haven’t had much success both against Firebirds & at Basin Reserve.

My Dream11 Team:

Wk: Phillips

Batsmen: Conway, Bracewell, Hose, Guptill

Allrounders: Munro, Neesham.

Bowlers: Fergusan, Beek, Newton, Somerville

Captain & Vice-captain’s Picks:

As Neesham is available, he’s an automatic choice in small leagues.

For the other one, you can pick any one of the top 3 from Aces who are expected to do the bulk of scoring.

Phillips, who failed in the starting games did well in the last game before rain interrupted & so did Guptill with his blistering 62*(37)

Grand League Picks:

Chapman, Cachopa both are excellent picks for GL especially if the top order goes early.

Also, Somerville will love bowling at Basin & with 4 lefties in top 6 he’ll be the biggest threat for Firebirds.

Not to forget, Michael Bracewell who’s in the form of his life right now & is dealing only in sixes right now.

Good Luck & do upvote if you like the analysis.