#1 vs UAE (Uneven / Windy)

1. Gondlir (a)
2. Numa (d)
3. Currie (n)
4. Newman (n)
5. Hard (n)
6. Forster (n)
7. Swain (d)
8. Nani (n)
9. Westbrook (n)
10. Shea (n)
11. Read (n)

Westbrook (a) , Swain (n)
Shea (a), Nani (n)
Read (d), Shea (n)
Nani (d), Swain (n)
Westbrook (n), Read (a)


I really want to come out strong here - an early big win would be nice. The overall strategy of the group stages is to win the first 3, so that IND & WI don't try so hard to beat us, and focus on their other opportunities.

Gondlir aggressive to take down any early weak bowlers. Numa is there because it "is" still Uneven, so we might appreciate the balance. Currie, Newman, Hard gives us a naturally aggressive order and I'm hoping that 1-2 of them gets a start and gets us rolling. We're a bit weaker after that with Forster, Swain the a/r then a touch of batting from Nani to hit out late, and maybe Westy.
Forster is in to save Reardon for the Hard pitch against SA next round, and I decided Numa was better suited to open in this lineup ahead of Pinkus - who'll be more suitable as a pinch hitter on tomorrows Hard pitch... in that one, Gondlir can play the anchor role. And van Noord isn't as good as our other 3,4,5 options so he can have a hit on the Hard pitch as well.

I wanted Read to have a run this match so we can rest him for 2 games to prepare for matches 4,5 later. But we can't afford two spinners on Uneven when we have a lineup dominated by mediums & FM's. Swain wants to play, so we don't get stuck with both Pyke & Swain on the Hard pitch against SA... that'd leave us without enough bowling strike power. So with those two "weaker" options unlikely to take wickets, I want our best FM & M on the park. Stewart would have been good too, but I opted for a slightly weaker bowler to save Stewart for the difficult Hard pitch. So, with Crane & Nani to choose from, it makes sense to have Nani (more batting) on the bowlers deck, and Crane (more bowling) on the batsmans deck.

It's quite an aggressive lineup, but at the end of the day we want to bowl first (so Read isn't bowling on a seamers deck at the close of the match), bowl aggressively, then get well on top of the RR with the bat early... then just grind through with our a/r talents as backup. Batting first isn't an issue either, as aggressive batting from Gondlir, then our great top 5 should score well... and that would put pressure on UAE where aggressive spells from Westy & Shea should help clean them up.