OV vs NK 5th Match Prediction

OV vs NK Team Previews

Otago Volts

The Volts ended the last two seasons with a wooden spoon and will surely be looking to turn a new page this season. However, things haven’t been off to the best of starts as Otago lost their opening match against Wellington.

The Volts opted to bowl first but things didn’t go according to plans as Jacob Duffy and Ben Lockrose were both taken to the cleaners by Wellington batsmen and were quite expensive. Michael Rae was the pick of the bowlers, picking 3 wickets for just 13 runs.

Dean Foxcroft too chipped in, picking up 2 wickets. Chasing a daunting target of 152, the Volts lost Hamish Rutherford cheaply. But Dale Phillips and Dean Foxcroft steadied the innings, bringing them back in the hunt. Foxcroft went on to score a resilient 73 runs, but in the end, the Volts fell short of the total by just 7 runs.

Michael Rippon will play an important role as an all-rounder, especially as the team is playing its first season without Anaru Kitchen and Neil Broom. We saw flashes of brilliance from Llew Johnson, who scored a quick-fire 24 in the opening match, and expect to see more of him going forward. 

Northern Knights

Jeet Raval, who led the Braves to their third-ever title win last season, is leading the team once again. The Braves have been performing well in the Ford Trophy, which is the domestic One-Day cup in New Zealand, but that form doesn’t seem to have spilled into the shortest format yet.

The Braves played their opening match last Friday against the Canterbury Kings. The match was reduced to 14 overs a side due to rain. Asked to bat first, the Braves could manage to get just 95 on the board. At one stage, the home team was 2 down with just 16 runs scored. However, Katene Clarke and Joe Carter put up 46 runs to take the Braves to a respectable total.

The bowling was even more lackluster as debutant Tim Pringle was the only one who managed to get a wicket and Canterbury managed to win by 9 wickets. All eyes will be on the performance of Kristian Clarke, who has put up some excellent all-round performances in the U-19 circuit, as well as Joe Walker and Zak Wilson, both of whom will be spearheading the bowling.