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New South Wales will be taking on Western Australia in the final of The Marsh One Day Cup, Australia’s premier domestic List A competition, in Sydney on Sunday (April 11).
Both teams are coming into the marquee summit clash for the Marsh Cup with form and momentum behind them as they finished as the top two sides in the six-team points table.
After a single round-robin that saw each of the Australian state playing five matches each, New South Wales sat comfortably on the top of the ladder with four victories and one no result.
Western Australia were able to pip Queensland to bag the second position in the table with two extra points despite winning three, losing one and having one no result in their five-game fixture list, respectively.
Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia, disappointingly had to settle with the fourth, fifth and sixth positions in the table.
In their previous outings, Western Australia beat Tasmania comprehensively in Perth, while New South Wales dominated Queensland to a handsome win in Sydney.
However, the recent results will have no bearing on the result of the final where the two teams will be going hard at each other for the domestic List A supremacy.
Key Players
Daniel Hughes the left-hand batsman from New South Wales will have the onus on him to deliver the goods for the hosts as they miss the services of their big name batters Steve Smith and David Warner due to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 duties. Hughes has batted well in the tournament so far, with 102 runs, including a century, at an average of 51.00 while carrying a strike rate of 95.32 after two innings. Hughes has an impressive overall List A record to his name and has made 1,421 runs at an average of 56.84 with a strike-rate of 89.2.
Sam Whiteman from Western Australia has been quite consistent for his team this season. The left-hand batsman has played four matches in the competition with 220 runs to his name while averaging 55.00 and striking at a rate of 94.82 runs per 100 balls. Whiteman’s tournament tally includes three half-centuries, making him one of Western Australia’s most important players leading into the all-important final. Whiteman has plenty of experience under his belt and shall help his team in the high-pressure clash with New South Wales.
Cameron Green, the Western Australia all-round cricketer, is another vital cog in his team’s wheels and extremely crucial to their chances heading into the Marsh Cup. Green, who is regarded highly among prominent voices within Australian cricket, made Test and ODI debuts for his country in the international home summer that went by. Taking momentum forward, Green has performed very well for Western Australia. He has scored 174 runs from 4 innings of the competition at an average of 43.50 while maintaining a fantastic strike rate of 110.12. Green has also chipped in with useful overs of right-arm quick for his team through the List A tournament.
Sean Abbott has done well with the ball for New South Wales in this summer’s edition of the Marsh Cup. The right-arm quick has picked up six wickets from his three outings in the tournament so far while averaging 21.50 per piece and conceding only 4.86 runs per over. He can also chip with useful runs as a batsman lower down the order. Abbott, the 29-year-old NSW cricketer, has a wealth of experience, which shall come to good use in the encounter versus Western Australia. Abbott has 2 ODIs and 7 T20Is for Australia and has a fantastic List A record to his name, having scalped 104 wickets at an average of 25.25 and an economy rate of 5.30.
Liam Hatcher of New South Wales has been one of their in-form bowlers in the competition. Hatcher, the 24-year-old right-arm quick, boasts of impressive numbers for the tournament leading into the final against Western Australia. Hatcher has taken six wickets from his three innings at an average of 27.66 per piece while conceding 5.72 runs per over.
Prediction
Western Australia are the most frequent winners of the Australian domestic List A title, having lifted the coveted crown 14 times. They have also been runners-up on ten occasions.
New South Wales are the closest second in the list of trophy-holders, with 11 titles and eight runners-up finish next to their name.
The history favours Western Australia, who are also the defending champions for the List A domestic competition.
However, New South Wales have been the more dominant side of the ongoing season and have not lost in a single game of the competition before entering the final.
The previous clash between the two teams in the league stage was abandoned without a ball being delivered.
But New South Wales could hold the upper hand in the ultimate finale, given their successful run in the tournament so far.
