Northamptonshire vs Gloucestershire, CC2025, Today Match Prediction 23 November 2024

NOR vs GLO Match Prediction & Analysis

Although Leicestershire are riding high at the top of the County Championship Division Two table, the rest of the division is tightly congested with just 26 points separating Derbyshire in second and Northamptonshire in eighth!

Gloucestershire make the journey north and east for this fixture after getting their first victory of the campaign in round six when they defeated Kent by three wickets in Bristol after successfully chasing down their target of 162.

As for Northamptonshire, they were unable to follow up their 70 run victory over Lancashire in round five and instead slumped to an eight wicket defeat against Glamorgan.

The second division will no doubt start to spread out a little more after this round of fixtures unless Northamptonshire can beat Gloucestershire and bring the pack back closer together.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Northamptonshire Preview

It was a poor start from Northamptonshire in Cardiff last week when they were dismissed for 185 and then conceded 424 runs with the ball! 

Although they got themselves back into it with 304 in their second innings, ultimately the damage had been done and they were only able to pick up two wickets as Glamorgan easily chased down 66 in the fourth innings of the game.

Back at home for this contest, captain Luke Procter will once again be key for Northamptonshire as he hit half-centuries in both innings and Gloucestershire will no doubt target taking him out with the new ball.

Saif Zaib and Lewis McManus both made half-centuries in the second innings and could be pushed up the order in this match.

With the ball, Harry Conway, Justin Broad and Ben Sanderson all produced impressive figures despite the defeat in Cardiff.

Northamptonshire Predicted Playing XI:

Ricardo Vasconcelos, Luke Procter (c), George Bartlett, James Sales, Rob Keogh, Saif Zaib, Lewis McManus (wk), Justin Broad, Calvin Harrison, Ben Sanderson, Harry Conway

Gloucestershire Preview

It was a powerful display from Gloucestershire in Bristol last week as they took 20 wickets, posted a first innings total of 516 and then just about managed to get over the finishing line as they chased down 162 with three wickets remaining!

Getting the first win of the season is always important and this will be particularly so for Gloucestershire after their narrow victory.

Heading to Northampton for this match, they have players in strong form, particularly with the bat.

Internationals Cameron Green (128) and James Bracey (127) all made first innings centuries in Bristol last week and it was Green who then stood up as others fell and made 67 not out to get his team home.

With the ball, Ajeet Singh Dale comes into this clash after taking nine wickets last week and Ben Charlesworth also caught the eye with economical and effective bowling.

Gloucestershire Predicted Playing XI:

Cameron Bancroft, Ben Charlesworth, Oliver Price, Miles Hammond, Cameron Green, James Bracey (wk), Graeme van Buuren, Tom Price, Zaman Akhter, Josh Shaw, Ajeet Singh Dale,

Weather Conditions

After a spell of warm weather, it is set to be a bit cooler over the days of this game in Northampton. There could be some rain on Saturday but overall it will be dry and cloudy.

NOR vs GLO Pitch Report

The County Ground in Northampton has long delivered good batting surfaces with spinners coming into the game across the final day. We expect a par first innings score to be 450+ in this match.

Toss: To Bat

It will be quite a dry pitch in Northampton which means we can expect more turn as the game progresses combined with some low bounce. Therefore, we predict that both teams will want to bat first.