Northamptonshire and Warwickshire both go searching for their first win in the Royal London One-Day Cup when they meet at Wantage Road on Easter Sunday.
Northants have lost their opening two matches away from home, with this being their first home white ball fixture of 2019. The Steelbacks were beaten by a Cameron Bancroft inspired Durham in their opening fixture, before a disappointing batting performance against Derbyshire on Friday saw them all out for 215 to lose by 53 runs.
Warwickshire have played just the one match so far and it was a thrilling tie against Yorkshire at Edgbaston. Tim Ambrose continued his good form with the bat, making 77 as the Bears made 269-8 in their 50 overs but having reduced Yorkshire to 89-5 in the chase, they will have been disappointed to have not completed victory.
Despite Northants’ success in the T20 Blast in recent years, they have not enjoyed the 50 over format and have finished in the bottom two of the North Group in the last two seasons.
Warwickshire, the 2016 champions, narrowly missed out on qualification for the knockout stage last year and look one of the stronger sides on paper in the North Group.
Key Men
The form of overseas signing Jason Holder has been one of the positives for Northants in their opening two fixtures. The West Indian skipper made 86 from 68 balls against Durham and 30 against Derbyshire, taking two wickets in each match as well. Holder appears to be enjoying his stint in county cricket ahead of the World Cup and will be looking to perform for the home fans.
Warwickshire have an exciting bowling line-up with Chris Woakes now back in the fold. Henry Brookes burst onto the scene in this competition last season and started well against Yorkshire on Friday. His opening spell was very lively and included the wickets of Adam Lyth and Tom Kohler-Cadmore. He returned at the death to break a crucial Yorkshire partnership, finishing with figures of 3-50 from his 10 overs. He will enjoy playing at Wantage Road, which always offers something to the quick bowlers in white ball cricket.
Squad news
Northants have named the same team for the opening two matches so far and will probably remain unchanged for this one. Ben Curran could come into this side and there has been a call for 21-year old Ricardo Vasconcelos to be given a chance at the top order after he impressed in the T20 Blast last year.
Northants squad – TBA
Warwickshire have named the same 12 man squad that took on Yorkshire on Friday. Chris Woakes will have another chance to impress the England selectors while fireworks are normally guaranteed when Ed Pollock opens the batting.
Warwickshire squad: Jeetan Patel (c), Tim Ambrose (wk), Liam Banks, Henry Brookes, Sam Hain, Olivier Hannon-Dalby, George Panayi, Ed Pollock, Will Rhodes, Dominic Sibley, Alex Thomson, Chris Woakes
Weather and conditions
The UK’s Easter weekend heatwave is set to continue in Northampton on Sunday with temperatures looking to reach 23 degrees.
This is the first white ball match at Wantage Road this season, but Northants have had one Championship match where they forced Middlesex to follow on. A battling 160* from Dawid Malan got Middlesex out of trouble and the match was drawn.
Wantage Road usually provides a good contest between bat and ball for one-day matches with 266 being the average first innings score in the last two seasons.
Interestingly in 11 white ball matches last summer at Northampton, only three were won by the team chasing.
Date: Sunday 21stApril 2019
Time: 11.00AM
Ground: Wantage Rd, Northampton
Umpires: TBA
Odds (SkyBet): Northants 11/10, Warwickshire 8/11
