Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire kick start the T20 Blast’s new season in the central group.
Team Previews
Central Group’s first clash will be played between Gloucestershire and Northamptonshire. Gloucestershire had a good campaign in 2019, finishing second in South Group with one point behind to Sussex. They couldn’t cross beyond the quarterfinals after losing to Derbyshire. Gloucestershire batting unit is quite good with a bunch of young players. George Scott got runs in the Bob Willis Trophy. Graeme van Buuren, Hammond, and Howell put a solid base in the middle-order.
Meanwhile, Northants will look forward to starting the campaign in the search of the third title in the T20 Blast. 2-times champion missed out the qualification in the North Division last year, finishing 7th in the table. Northants signed up Stirling as an overseas player and the Irish player had a solid season last year and he recently scored a hundred against England in the last ODI. They included some young talents likes Emilio Gay, Ben Curran, and Charlie Thurston who had scored a ton in Bob Willis Trophy.
Pitch Report
County Ground, Bristol will host the match between Northants and Gloucestershire. Bristol is a batting surface but it has plenty of help to pacers. First few overs are crucial and a score above 160 would be a challenging total to chase. The weather is pretty cloudy and so we expect a full game on Thursday.
Possible XI
Gloucestershire
Miles Hammond, Ian Cockbain, Graeme van Buuren, James Bracey, Ryan Higgins, Benny Howell, Gareth Roderick, Jack Taylor, George Scott, David Payne, Josh Shaw
Northamptonshire
Paul Stirling, Adam Rossington, Richard Levi, Charlie Thurston, Josh Cobb, Alex Wakely, Rob Keogh, Nathan Buck, Graeme White, Ben Sanderson, Brandon Glover
Key Players
Gloucestershire
David Payne
T20 Blast 2019: M: 13, Wickets: 16, Avg: 21.68
Miles Hammond
T20 Blast 2019: M: 13, Runs: 322, Avg: 26.83
Northamptonshire
Paul Stirling
England ODI series: M: 3, Runs: 156, Avg: 52
Charlie Thurston
Bob Wills Trophy: M: 3, Runs: 357, Avg: 44.62
