Steelbacks T20 Match Preview - 01/07/2022

When we last met:

The previous encounter between the two teams ended up as a bruising defeat for the Running Foxes, largely at the hands of Chris Lynn.

Winning the toss and choosing to bat first at their home ground, Northants got off to a cautious start but accelerated rapidly once they got through the Powerplay having not lost a wicket.  Lynn (106 not out, 66b) was unbeaten at the end of the 20 overs, and fellow overseas player Jimmy Neesham hit an unbeaten 75 (30b) as Northants posted 227-1.

Chasing such a big total was always going to be a difficult proposition for any team, and Leicestershire fell 42 runs short despite the best efforts of Scott Steel (64, 45b), and Ben Mike (30, 12b) plus some late runs from Roman Walker (19 not out, 9b).

Head to Head:

Wiaan Mulder v Jimmy Neesham

Since coming into the Running Foxes' team, Wiaan Mulder has been in magnificent form, averaging 37.66 with the bat at a strike rate of 144.87, and also being superb in the field - taking four catches in our win at Trent Bridge last Tuesday.

With the ball, the South Africa international has also impressed, with his nine overs so far in the tournament costing just 7.55 runs per over - particularly impressive considering he's also been bowling overs in the Powerplay and in the death overs.

We saw rival overseas all-rounder Neesham's prowess in our loss at Wantage Road and he's scored 204 runs in the tournament so far at an average of 40.80, striking at 164.51.

However, while those batting numbers have been highly impressive, Neesham has been more expensive with the ball, with his overs costing 9.40 at this stage of the Blast.  

With both overseas all-rounders a key element of the two teams, with both bat, ball and in the field, the Mulder versus Neesham battle will be a big factor in deciding the outcome of Friday night's match.

Squad: Ackermann *, Ahmed, Davis, Griffiths, Hill, Kimber, Lilley, Mike, Mulder, Naveen, Parkinson, Patel, Swindells +, Welch.