Palmerston v Tracy Village – Cazalys Oval
After suffering back-to-back close losses to begin their 2024 season, Palmerston will do everything they can to try and secure a victory when they face Tracy Village at home this Saturday.
Palmy has had the challenge of facing the two undefeated teams to start their campaign, but they have plenty of positives to take away from the encounters.
Firstly, Palmy almost won both matches (20-run defeat to Waratah in round 1, 32-run defeat to Nightcliff in round 2) and they have taken a total of 19 wickets.
Experienced campaigner Alex Bleakley has been one of the competition’s best-performing all-rounders with 62 runs and four wickets for Palmy.
Wellington recruit Caleb Montague has also been in good form with the Palmy wicketkeeper scoring 39 and 64 from the opening two games. The opener also struck 39 in the club’s T20 on April 16.
Meanwhile, the Villagers will be looking to build off their solid outing in the opening round where they fired with the bat but couldn’t back it up with the ball.
After the bye in the first round, the Villagers posted 8-219 on their home turf but couldn't create enough chances later on with the ball as Darwin claimed an eight-wicket win.
Skipper Jack Doyle led impressively with a team-high 64 with the bat coming in at No.7. Darcy Gregory-Francis was next best with a solid 43 at No.5. The pair will be important to the Village side after they also fell short in Wednesday's T20 against Nightcliff, posting just 10-88.
Prediction: Palmy
PINT v Nightcliff – DXC Arena
This game is set to answer plenty of questions about both sides.
Nightcliff, the reigning one-day champions, have begun their season in fine form, scoring two wins from two games before a solid eight-wicket victory in Wednesday's T20 against Tracy.
PINT, who struggled a bit more last season, is on the rise, picking up a stellar win over reigning two-day champions Southern Districts in round 1.
But a tough loss to Waratah in round 2, where they allowed the Tahs to score 4-314, leaves the Greens with plenty of room to improve.
From the two matches, the Greens have shown some great promise (defeating the Crocs) although when the Tahs were 2-250 last week, it was quite the opposite.
This game will give viewers an indication of where the Greens are at. Similarly, for the Tigers who only just got over the line in a tight 32-run win over the 0-2 Palmy.
In the Tigers line up, opening pair Connor Carroll (155 runs) and Douwtjie Hoogenboezem (117 runs) are ranked second and fourth respectively for aggregate runs in the competition and will be key in the game.
So will leg spinner Charlie Smith who leads the competition with six wickets.
The Greens will have allrounder Coby Edmondstone (four wickets, 38 runs) there to try and match the Tigers as well as captain Farzan Chowna (67 runs) who has had a solid start.
Prediction: Tigers
Southern Districts v Waratah – Gerry Wood Oval
A fresh Southern Districts will aim to pick up their first win of the season when they face Waratah at home.
They will need to be ready to go from the outset as the Warriors are well and truly into their season with back-to-back wins to start their campaign.
The Crocs are coming off the bye last round, leaving them with some time to think about their opening-round loss to the Greens.
This match poses to be a close one with the Crocs winning the two-day flag last year while the Warriors made it to the one-day final.
The Warriors impressed immensely last week with skipper Jagadesh Koduru and teammate Shashank Lokesh both notching centuries in excess of 130.
Competition run-scoring leader Koduru struck 135 off 132 balls while Lokesh hit 132 off 138 balls at Gardens Oval.
The pair won’t be an easy task for the Crocs bowlers who rely heavily on spin trio Tim Garner, Dylan Mullen and Matt Hammond.
The three spinners will be raring to go after managing just one wicket in the opening round game against the Greens.
The Crocs won their first T20 encounter over Palmy a few weeks ago while the Warriors lost theirs to the Greens.
Prediction: Crocs