Clydesdale Bank 40 – Group B
Gloucestershire Gladiators (3rd) v Northamptonshire Steelbacks (7th)
Sunday 23rd May 2010 – 1345hrs
Gloucestershire Gladiators host Northants Steelbacks in their Sunday’s Group B match, needing a win to keep in touch with second-placed Essex. Northants will also be keen to break their duck in this competition, having lost all of their three matches so far but will face an uphill task at Gloucester.
Looking at recent form – Gloucestershire have won two & lost one; they beat Derbyshire by 51 runs and Middlesex by 77 runs, but lost to Essex by 42 runs.
Gladiators batting: Opening batsman & allrounder James Franklin (CB40: 136 runs @ avge 68.00 – 99.27SR) leads the run scoring, along with fellow Kiwi Hamish Marshall (CB40: 124 @ 41.33 – 108.77SR). Wicket-keeper batsman Jonathan Batty (CB40: 65 @ 21.66 – 61.90SR) has made a slow start, but scored 54 v Middlesex in their last match, and I expect the same again in this fixture.
Gladiators bowling: Whilst the batsmen have yet to really fire in earnest, their bowlers have performed well so far, bowling out all three opponents within the 40 overs. Leading wicket-taker is 19 year old paceman David Payne (CB40: 7 wkts @ average 4.14 – 4.83rpo), and he’s included in the Gloucester squad for this match. He recorded figures of 7-29 against Essex but still ended up on the losing side! Steve Kirby (CB40: 6 @ 18.50 – 5.55rpo) is still a dangerous bowler, as is Jonathan Lewis 4.07rpo, along with Zimbabwe medium-pacer Anthony Ireland (CB40: 5 @ 25.00 – 7.35rpo).
Northants Steelbacks have made a torrid start to their CB40 campaign, and this has been largely due to the failure of their batsmen – they have posted a score of 200+ only once, against Derbyshire, but scores of 146 v Middlesex & 118 v Yorkshire have simply not been enough.
Steelbacks batting: Robert White (CB40: 109 @ 36.33 – 98.19SR) is the leading run-scorer, but the fact that he’s the only batsman that has scored over 100 runs so far emphasises the Steelbacks’ batting plight. David Sales (CB40: 71 @ 23.66 – 71.71SR) and all-rounder Andrew Hall (CB40: 36 @ 18.00 – 133.33SR) have under-performed so far but are still potential big scorers.
Steelbacks bowling: Medium-pacer Lee Daggett (CB40: 4 @ 21.00 – 5.79rpo), David Lucas (CB40: 3 @ 38.00 – 6.70rpo) and Andrew Hall (CB40: 2 @ 55.00 – 6.28rpo) are the danger men with the ball, but so far have not performed to their potential in a lacklustre side.
When you compare the two sides, Gloucester should have far more depth in the batting and bowling departments, and I’m confident this will again be on show in today’s fixture.
Pick: Gloucestershire Gladiators @ a generous 1.72 with Bet365
