SQUAD PREVIEW
Follow UsTRENT ROCKETS (W)
Best XI: Ella Claridge, Rachel Priest (wk), Nat Sciver(c), Kathryn Bryce, Heather Graham, Emily Windsor, Sammy-Jo Johnson, Michaela Kirk, Katherine Brunt, Sarah Glenn, Nancy Harman
Coach: Salliann Beams
Strengths
Power-hitters galore: The Trent Rockets squad is one of the most smartly constructed batting units in the competition. It is filled with a lot of power-hitters keeping in mind their home venue with short boundaries which favours the batters almost unfairly at times. They have an in-form Nat Sciver who has a lethal strike rate of 122.45 in T20Is (in England). It also features Sammy-Jo Johnson potentially taking up the finisher’s role who has an impressive power game. The squad also features Kathryn Bryce who has the potential to score quickly coming in as late as number five.
Batting Depth: The Trent Rockets squad is designed to exploit the batting advantage on offer at their home venue. They bat deep with a batter as capable as Glenn batting at number nine who could potentially be thrown in a pinch-hitting opening role based on the batter's ability alone.
One other clear area of strength is that in Katherine Brunt the Rockets have a fairly quick bowler who can also bowl hard lengths. She is also capable of bowling well with both new and old ball, which is a very rare skill.
Concerns
Bowling attack: Excluding Brunt, the bowling attack lacks depth because the local pace bowling options are not good enough. Spin bowling will not be particularly useful when there’s no available assistance.
Inconsistent batters: The Rockets team is filled with plenty of quick scorers and bat deep but their main batters apart from Nat Sciver are pretty inconsistent.
Southern Brave (W)
Best XI: Smriti Mandhana, Danni Wyatt, Sophia Dunkley, Stafanie Taylor, Maia Bouchier, Anya Shrubsole, Carla Rudd(wk), Paige Scholfield, Sonia Odedra, Amanda-Jade Wellington, Lauren Bell
Coach: Charlotte Edwards
Strengths
Spin Bowling: In Charlotte Taylor, Stafanie, Amanda Wellington, Fi Morris could form one of the best spin attacks in the tournament.
Bowling Variety: With Lauren Bell’s high release, Anya Shrubsole’s new-ball swing bowling, Tara Norris’s left-arm angle and the best spin combination as mentioned earlier makes the Southern Brave bowling attack amongst the most versatile in the competition.
Aggressive Opening combination: Smriti Mandhana will be amongst the openers and Dani Wyatt who can play a very attacking role in the powerplay. They form amongst the most destructive opening combinations in the competition which is an essential requirement in this format for quick starts.
Concerns
Anya Shrubsole’s injury concerns: Shrubsole’s already had a lot of time off cricket because of injury concerns and could be missing some games in order to manage her workload/recovery and the team could end up losing one key bowler from their setup.
Dependable batters: Although the team has good batting depth, it’s come at the cost of missing specialist/in-form middle-order players in the team who could be more consistent and offer more stability than the all-rounders they have picked.
