New Zealand T20 League

13th Match: NOR vs OTA

Preview

The 13th  match of the ongoing New Zealand T20 League will be held between the NOR and OTA franchises. The match is scheduled at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Friday, January 6, 2023. 

NOR will be glancing to claim the top spot on the league table as they face OTA on Friday, 6th January in the ongoing season of the New Zealand T20 League 

Both sides haven’t been in their best forms and have lacked character in their game. Both NOR and OTA will be desperate to fetch victory in a few games in the near future, this should be a fascinating affair to watch.

The Northern franchise are the defending champion and fans will hope for a better result from them. NOR stand in the third spot in the points table with the two victories and those many losses in four matches.

The top-order batter of NOR are in sublime touch anyways, as Jeet Raval, Katene Clarke, and Tim Seifert, have all contributed a couple of good innings on behalf of their team. The middle order has a contrary form to the top ones and has been a little suppressed in its executions so far. This has been one of the pivotal bases for the depletion of constant performances from the  Northern side.

The side assembled a new playing XI in the previous match with a couple of major changes, bringing in all-rounder Frederick Walker and Peter Bocock in place of Mitchell Santner and Scott Kuggeleijn. Both the players failed to deliver well and hence faced this harsh decision. Also, the side would have to leave Santner as the veteran will join the national side and it will be a great loss for NOR as he has been a great all-rounder in the squad. 

Kristian Clarke and Tim Pringle have delivered some decent spells and took 5 wickets each, while Brett Hampton has picked up 4.

The Otago side also didn’t have the best of starts to this season’s campaign as they lost fourth in the points table with one win in four matches. The only match they won was against Auckland by a margin of 37 runs. Their previous game was also against the same franchise because of a reverse fixture, which ended in a draw. Yet, a victory in this clash will take them ahead of NOR to second place in the league standings.

Otago's recent success has been empowered by some terrific all-around executions by Dean Foxcroft, who is back on the field after a long two years break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Foxcroft has smashed 2 half-centuries in 4 innings in this season of the league with an average of 49.50. He is also the highest wicket-taker for the Otago side and has picked up 9 wickets so far, including a five-wicket haul. Yet, the other batters around him haven’t been in good form and hence lacked support. Josh Finnie, Hamish Rutherford, and Jake Gibson all failed to get a good start with the bat except Llew Johnson who played an excellent inning of 46 from just 27 balls and therefore is expected to get more starts like this. 

This will probably also be Jacob Duffy’s last outing for his team in this championship before joins the New Zealand ODI squad for a tour to India. 

Match Details

Match: NOR vs OTA, 13th Match, New Zealand T20 League

Date: Friday, January 06, 2023

Time: 7:30 AM (Jan 6)

Venue: Seddon Park, Hamilton

Pitch & Weather Report

The ground at Seddon Park in Hamilton is a fast track with good bounce and it will favour the batters. The pacers will also relish bowling here as they can get good movement off this track. The spinners will struggle on this surface. The average first-inning score in New Zealand T20 League is around 170 runs. 

There is a very high possibility of downpours in Hamilton on January 6, Friday and rain might spoil the game to some extent or the whole match. Heavy clouds are expected to be all over the sky and the temperature will be around 19 degrees Celsius. 

NOR vs OTA Squads

NOR: Brett Hampton, Freddy Walker, Henry Cooper, Jeet Raval, Joe Walker, Katene Clarke, Kristian Clarke, Peter Bocock, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Pringle, Tim Seifert, Zak Gibson

OTA: Hamish Rutherford, Josh Finnie, Dean Foxcroft, Jake Gibson, Andrew Hazeldine, Llew Johnson, Nick Kwant, Ben Lockrose, Jarrod Mckay, Travis Muller, Thorn Parkes, Dale Phillips, Beckham Wheeler

NOR vs OTA Probable XIs

NOR: Fisher, Matthew, Anurag Verma, Neil Wagner, Mitchell Santner, Henry Cooper, Fergus Lellman, Katene Clarke, Joe Carter, Kane Williamson, Peter David Bocock, Tim Seifert

OTA: Matthew Bacon, Jarrod McKay, Ben Lockrose, Jake Gibson, Dean Foxcroft, Michael Rippon, Glenn Phillips, Llew Johnson, Josh Finnie, Max Chu, Dale Phillips.

Match Prediction

The recent forms of both teams denote that there is only a small difference between the two at this stage. NOR have a better-balanced side than their opponents. OTA are dependent on the performance of a few individual players. We are therefore backing the defending champions NOR to win this match. 

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