Central Stags vs Wellington Firebirds, SST20, Today Match Prediction 08 January 2024

CD vs WELL Match Prediction & Analysis

With the exception of Northern Districts who are four points adrift at the bottom of the table, and Wellington Firebirds who have a two point lead at the top, the other four sides in this year's Super Smash are separated by only four points. This means that if fifth placed Stags win this game then they will be only two points behind their opponents come the end of the match.

Form wise, Wellington Firebirds were unbeaten before they found they had no answer to the opening pair of Finn Allen and Martin Guptill in Auckland on Thursday. Although the Stags don't have an opening pair with quite the same white ball pedigree as Allen and Guptill, we could well see their top order really look to take the attack to the Firebirds bowlers once more.

There may be four teams between the sides in the table, but all that can change very quickly.

RECENT PERFORMANCE

CD

L W L L W

CD

142/8 in 19.0 7.47

SST20

Canterbury Kings beat Central Stags by 33 runs (D/L) method 30 Dec 2023

CANT

185/4 in 20.0 9.25

CD

206/5 in 20.0 10.3

SST20

Central Stags beat Northern Districts by 56 runs 27 Dec 2023

ND

150/10 in 19.2 7.76

ND

196/9 in 20.0 9.8

SST20

Northern Districts beat Central Stags by 55 runs 22 Dec 2023

CD

141/10 in 19.5 7.11

ND

189/6 in 42.1 4.48

FT

Northern Districts beat Central Stags by 4 wickets 12 Dec 2023

CD

185/10 in 49.4 3.72

CD

236/9 in 50.0 4.72

FT

Central Stags beat Otago Volts by 82 runs 07 Dec 2023

OV

154/10 in 40.0 3.85

WELL

L W W W L

AUCK

192/6 in 20.0 9.6

SST20

Auckland Aces beat Wellington Firebirds by 53 runs 04 Jan 2024

WELL

139/10 in 18.3 7.51

ND

154/8 in 20.0 7.7

SST20

Wellington Firebirds beat Northern Districts by 23 runs 02 Jan 2024

WELL

177/8 in 20.0 8.85

OV

47/10 in 12.4 3.71

SST20

Wellington Firebirds beat Otago Volts by 9 wickets 28 Dec 2023

WELL

53/1 in 4.3 11.78

WELL

234/5 in 20.0 11.7

SST20

Wellington Firebirds beat Otago Volts by 74 runs 21 Dec 2023

OV

160/10 in 16.5 9.51

AUCK

295/3 in 38.3 7.66

FT

Auckland Aces beat Wellington Firebirds by 10 runs (D/L) method 13 Dec 2023

WELL

266/5 in 35.0 7.6

HEAD TO HEAD

TEAMS PREVIEW

Central Stags Preview

By the time they got underway in Match 14, there were only 11 overs scheduled for each side, but Central Stags were mightily relieved when the rain returned as they were in more than a pickle on 21/4 approaching the half-way stage of their innings! We can expect the team management to have the approach of telling the players that this is a new game and to forget about the last as they have plenty of batters with formidable Super Smash records.

Although their batting line-up will be under scrutiny again in this match, the bowlers will be looking forward to getting back onto the field after putting their feet up throughout the match with the Canterbury Kings. There is likely to be some cloud cover and humidity for the pace bowlers to work with in this match.

Central Stags Predicted Playing XI:

Will Young, Bayley Wiggins, Dane Cleaver (wk), Tom Bruce (c), Josh Clarkson, William Clark, Doug Bracewell, Bevan Small, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner, Jayden Lennox

Central Stags Actual Playing XI:

Tom Bruce, Will Young, William Clark, Bayley Wiggins, Dane Cleaver, Ajaz Patel, Blair Tickner, Jayden Lennox, Bevan Small, Doug Bracewell, Josh Clarkson

Wellington Firebirds Preview

After conceding 73 runs from the opening 7 overs against Auckland Aces, Wellington Firebirds never really recovered and they ended up making up the numbers in some ways of the 'Thank You Gup' day on January 4th to honour the contribution of Martin Guptill. None of the bowlers were able to dismiss Guptill and the whole team will be looking forward to playing against a side in this game who have not got a day organised specifically for one of their players!

Still, the Firebirds will be looking for a response from their players and we expect Adam Milne and Ben Sears to lead the way with the ball. With the bat, Nathan Smith could well be pushed up the order as he was the only batter to hit more than one six in the defeat against the Aces.

Overall, the Firebirds must bounce-back immediately in this game.

Wellington Firebirds Predicted Playing XI:

Tim Robinson, Nick Greenwood, Nick Kelly (c), Muhammad Abbas, Michael Bracewell, Callum McLachlan (wk), Nathan Smith, Logan van Beek, Adam Milne, Peter Younghusband, Ben Sears

Wellington Firebirds Actual Playing XI:

Muhammad Arslan Abbas, Nick Kelly, Tim Robinson, Logan van Beek, Michael Bracewell, Nathan Smith, Peter Younghusband, Callum McLachlan, Devon Conway, Iain Meake, Michael Snedden

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The temperature will be no higher than 22 degrees throughout the first innings of this match and then should drop a couple of degrees in the second innings. No rain is forecast at any point to interrupt this clash.

CD vs WELL Pitch Report

We saw a T20I at this venue between Christmas and New Year with Bangladesh recording an unexpected win over New Zealand. It is one of those pitches which keeps the bowlers interested throughout with the quicks getting some sideways movement and the spinners able to get the ball to grip at times. A par score will be no higher than 165.

Toss: To Bowl

This is the first Super Smash game in Napier this season so we expect the overhead conditions to direct the captains at the toss. With clouds forecast at the start of the game, we predict that both teams will want to field first.