The Worcestershire Rapids and Northamptonshire Steelbacks square off in the 2022 Vitality Blast on Saturday afternoon. With only one win in nine games, the Rapids are at the bottom of the North Group. The Steelbacks have six wins and are tied for first place in the table with Lancashire Lightning. Continue reading for a preview of this North Group game. The match begins at 14:30 local time on New Road in Worcester.
Worcestershire Rapids have had a disastrous 2022 Vitality Blast season and were soundly defeated by Leicestershire Foxes in their most recent game. They have no chance of progressing past the group stage and are only playing for pride.
On Friday, Northamptonshire Steelbacks defeated North Group leaders Lancashire Lightning by 7 wickets with 22 balls remaining. The victory was all the more impressive because it was achieved without the tournament’s leading run scorer, Chris Lynn.
Worcestershire Team News:
The Rapids were without Captain Moeen Ali for Friday’s trip to Leicester because the England all-rounder was in the Netherlands on international duty. Colin Munro took over as captain, with Mitchell Stanley making his first appearance for the county. We expect Munro to maintain his lead in this match because Ali is unavailable.
Worcestershire Squad
Ed Pollock, Brett DOliveira, Colin Munro (c), Jack Haynes, Ed Barnard, Kashif Ali, Gareth Roderick (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Josh Baker, Patrick Brown, Mitchell Terry Stanley, Ben Cox, Jake Libby, Matthew Waite
Players to watch out for:
Colin Munro
A New Zealander, started the season with two half-centuries against Notts Outlaws and Lancashire Lightning. However, his runs have since dried up, and his team desperately needs a goal from him in this game.
Brett D’Oliveira
The team captain, who leads the side in the County Championship, has scored 274 runs in the T20 Blast this season at an average of 30.44.
Dwayne Bravo
A former West Indian bowling all-rounder has six wickets in the competition so far. The game against Leicestershire Foxes on Friday was the first in which he did not strike out a batter.
Possible Playing XI:
Ed Pollock, Brett D’Oliveira, Colin Munro (c), Jack Haynes, Ed Barnard, Kashif Ali, Gareth Roderick (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Josh Baker, Mitchell Stanley, Patrick Brown
Worcestershire Team Form
Worcestershire Rapids have lost their last four league games and were nowhere near competitive against Leicestershire Foxes on Friday evening.
Northamptonshire Team News:
Chris Lynn failed a late fitness test on his groin ahead of Friday’s win over Lancashire Lightning. We doubt Lynn will be available for the trip to Worcester with less than 24 hours between Friday’s game and this one. Emiliano Gay filled in for Lynn and scored 30 runs off 19 balls.
Northamptonshire Squad
Emilio Gay, Ben Curran, Joshua Cobb(c), James Neesham, Saif Zaib, Rob Keogh, Lewis McManus(w), Tom Taylor, Graeme White, Ben Sanderson, Freddie Heldreich, Nathan Buck, Chris Lynn, Matthew Kelly, Brandon Glover, James Sales
Players to watch out for:
Josh Cobb
The Steelbacks’ captain, has three half-centuries this season. On Friday, he was on fire, hitting nine boundaries against the Lancashire bowlers.
Ben Curran
On Friday evening, Ben Curran, the opener, hit his second fifty of the season. He scored 50 points on 41 balls and hit six fours.
Ben Sanderson
The pace bowler began this tournament in fine form but had cooled off in recent matches. However, against Lancashire, he dismissed Danny Lamb and Luke Wells and looked back to his best.
Possible Playing XI:
Ben Curran, Emilio Gay, Josh Cobb (c), Saif Zaib, Rob Keogh, Jimmy Neesham. Lewis McManus (wk), Tom Taylor, Graeme White, Ben Sanderson, Freddie Heldreich
Northamptonshire Team Form
Northamptonshire Steelbacks have won four consecutive T20 Blast games, including a convincing win over Lancashire Lightning in their most recent match.
Worcestershire vs Northamptonshire Top Team Batsmen:
Our batting recommendations for Worcestershire Rapids are Colin Munro, Jake Libby, and Jack Haynes. In this format, Munro has eight centuries.
Our batting picks for Northamptonshire Steelbacks are Ben Curran, Josh Cobb, and Emiliano Gay. Cobb has one century and 23 half-centuries in T20 cricket.
Worcestershire vs Northamptonshire Top Team Bowlers:
Dwayne Bravo, Patrick Brown, and Mitchell Stanley are our bowling picks for Worcestershire Rapids. On Friday, Stanley took the wicket of Harry Swindells with his first ball in top-flight cricket.
Ben Sanderson, Jimmy Neesham, and Tom Taylor are our bowling picks for Northamptonshire Steelbacks. The first dismissal came from Neesham against Lancashire Lightning.
Worcestershire vs Northamptonshire Head to Head
Worcestershire vs Northamptonshire
Worcestershire Rapids have recently dominated Northamptonshire Steelbacks. Only two of the eight T20 Blast games between the teams have been won by the Steelbacks since 2017.
Worcestershire vs Northamptonshire Head to Head Stats in T20
| Matches Played | WOR Won | NOR Won | Tie | NR | |
| Overall | 36 | 17 | 14 | 0 | 5 |
| Last 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Worcestershire vs Northamptonshire Toss Prediction
The captain who won the toss chose to field first in the final game of this tournament at New Road. In this match, we predict that both captains will want to bat second.
Worcestershire vs Northamptonshire Pitch Report
The pitch in Worcester is never too fast, but seam and spin bowlers often benefit from the surface. We anticipate a par score of no more than 170.
On an unseasonably cold day in Worcester, light rain is expected in the afternoon.
Worcestershire vs Northamptonshire Prediction
The form book would suggest an easy win for the away side, with Worcestershire Rapids struggling at the bottom of the table and Northamptonshire Steelbacks flying high. The Rapids are expected to fight hard in this game, but we predict another Steelbacks victory.
