CS vs NK 27th Match Prediction

CS vs NK Team Previews

Central Districts

After a good start to the season, the Central Stags have been a bit inconsistent over the last few weeks, alternating between a win and a loss in the last 4 matches. In their last outing, they faced the Northern Knights and won the match quite easily with 6 wickets in hand. As a result, they sit at the top of the points table, leading the Knights by 3 points.

In that match, Brad Schmulian continued with his brilliant form, putting up a 252-run opening stand with Ben Smith. Scoring 93 runs, Schmulian is now the leading scorer for the Stags as well as the tournament with 324 runs. Ben Smith finally demonstrated his true potential, belting out 145 runs in just 119 deliveries. The other top-order batsmen, including Dane Cleaver and Will Young, are in good touch too and will be hoping to contribute more towards the success of their team.

Thanks to some excellent batting by the top-order batsmen, the lower middle-order hasn’t been tested enough this season. The pace attack is spearheaded by Brett Randell, who picked up a fifer in the last match and is now the leading wicket-taker this season.

He will be supported by Raymond Toole. The spin department however seems to be a bit lacking at the moment as Ajaz Patel hasn’t been in the best of forms. The Stags have had a long break since their last game and will be fresh as they face their arch-rivals again. 

Northern Knights

It has been a slightly disappointing season for the Knights so far as two of their matches got washed away due to rains and they were forced to share points. However, they have played some good cricket to score 4 wins in their 6 completed matches and are second on the table.

After facing a defeat against the Stags during their first encounter, the Knights made a strong comeback in their latest match and defeated the Otago Volts quite convincingly. Opting to bowl first, the Knights restricted the Volts to just 222 thanks to some sharp bowling by the seamers as well as the spinners.

Kristian Clarke picked up a 3-wicket haul to take his total tally for the season to 14 wickets and was well supported by Scott Kuggeleijn, Peter Drysdale, and Frederick Walker. Katene Clarke and Tim Seifert were once again superb at the top of the order, putting up a 148-run opening stand to build a solid foundation for the chase, while Henry Carter gave the finishing touches to hand the team a thumping 7-wicket win.

The form of Jeet Raval and Joe Carter however is a bit of a concern as barring a couple of good innings, they haven’t been consistent. Brett Hampton has the makings of being a reliable all-rounder but he will have to put in a few better performances.