The Women’s side of the competition starts the day with the Fire in the same good form as the Rockets with two wins in their last two after a difficult start. Their two wins came against the Manchester Originals and Oval Invincibles which has put them back into the race for the top three. 

A win today would put them level with third and just a win behind top of the table Southern Brave with three matches to go. 

Hayley Matthews is an important figure with the bat, currently sitting in third for runs scored in the competition. She has hit 155 runs so far from 111 deliveries faced and could add many more to that number if she gets settled in her crease. 

With the ball, Matthews is also important to the Fire. She is their current leading wicket taker with five wickets from 75 deliveries with Nicole Harvey, Piepa Cleary and Bryony Smith just behind her with three wickets each. 

On the men’s side, the home side are looking to turn their form around. They started brilliantly with two wins from two but their most recent matches have both ended in defeat. 

Despite this, a win today would put them level with the third placed Rockets and back into the fight for the Eliminators with three matches to go. 

Ben Duckett is the leading run scorer in the competition with 191 runs scored in 134 deliveries faced. His strike rate has been good for the Fire and his ability to stay at the crease and put on a big score has been useful for the home side and could be crucial to them once again. 

As for bowling, Jimmy Neesham and Qais Ahmad are important to the Sophia Gardens team. The pair have 11 wickets between them. Neesham’s three wickets for five runs is one of the best bowling figures in the competition whilst Ahmad’s four wickets for 13 runs is just as impressive. Both could be important in dismantling the Rockets’ batting lineup. 

There are bound to be fireworks today at Sophia Gardens but will the home crowd be able to cheer their teams making a push for top three or will it be the Rockets who take-off?