NOR vs DUR 61st Match - North Group Prediction

NOR vs DUR Team Previews

Northamptonshire

The situation for the Steelbacks in the tournament has been precisely the opposite of smooth-sailing. Out of a total of five matches played, they've managed to come out on top only once. There last win, the only one, came a couple of games ago where they ran-past Birmingham Bears in a rain-curtailed encounter.

After their last win, they've had a game washed out due to rain in their subsequent encounter, their last one; they lost the closely-contested match by six wickets. It was their third defeat of the tournament wherein their skipper's valiant helped them to rack up their highest total of the competition before Derbyshire Falcons eventually chased it down.

Batting first, Northants did not get off the kind of start they were looking for as Ravi Rampaul got rid of Ben Curran on the first delivery of the third over with the total score reading 12. Adam Rossington and Joshua Cobb, their skipper, then combined to launch and inspiration counter-attack over the Falcons' bowlers as the duo put together 103 runs in under ten overs. However, a relatively weak finish to their innings pulled their total by at least ten runs which eventually cost them the game.

Additionally, their bowling with the new ball wasn't as disciplined as it should have been. Luis Reece was pretty severe on all of their bowlers, and by the time Graeme White got rid of him, it was too little too late for the Northants. Falcons eventually overhauled the total with six wickets in hand and a couple of overs to spare.

Durham

As compared to Northamptonshire Steelbacks, the situation for the Jets is a lot better. In the tournament so far, Durham have won half of their games, winning and losing on an alternate basis. They have three wins out of a total of six matches played, and another win here will push them to the third spot.

They are coming off a narrow loss in their previous match, to Lancashire Lightning and as they've always done in this edition, they'll be looking to bounce back to winning ways after facing the defeat.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Durham Jets' danger-man D'Arcy Short could've been dismissed on his first delivery which would have hampered their plans, but he survived to live for a few more overs. Short and Clark partnered to take them across the fifty-run mark, but once both of them were dismissed, Durham Jets could not get going and were eventually skittled for a total of 139.

While it wasn't an easy target to defend despite Durham playing at home, the match turned out to be a lot tighter than expected. All of their bowlers excluding Potts bowled in tight channels and had it not been for Liam Livingstone's spectacular innings for Lancashire; the Jets might have ended on the right side of the result.