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Oval Invincibles take on Northern Superchargers in the opening game of the women's Hundred.
The game is scheduled to start at 6.30pm BST on Thursday, August 11. The women's tournament has started a week later than the men's competition due to the overlap with the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
The Kia Oval in London will host the first double header of the tournament. Fans who have tickets will be able to watch the men's fixture, which will be followed in the evening by the women's match.
As this is the first game of the women’s tournament, recent form is hard to judge. Oval Invincibles are the inaugural champions after they thrashed Southern Brave by 48 runs in a sold-out Lord's final. They had a good start to the tournament, winning their opening two games, before a mixed bag of results at the end saw them finish second in the group stage.
They cruised past Birmingham Phoenix in the eliminator before producing a fine bowling performance in the final to defend 121 and be crowned champions. Marizanne Knapp was one of the bowlers of the tournament, picking up incredible figures of 4 for 9 in the final.
It was a bottom-half finish for Northern Superchargers, who finished in sixth position after three wins and four losses. One of those victories, however, came against Oval Invincibles in a thrilling encounter, with Northern Superchargers managing to get themselves over the line and win by four runs.
Oval Invincibles are reigning champions... (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The big news for Oval Invincibles is the loss of Tash Farrant. She was the leading wicket-taker in last year's competition, however she will not feature due to a back injury and will be a huge blow for the defending champions. Kirstie White is her replacement.
Sophia Smale will be the youngest Welsh player in the tournament, following a late call up after the departure of Essex's Emma Jones. There are no changes to the team for Northern Superchargers.
Superchargers have batting prowess in their overseas stars Alyssa Healy and Jeminah Rodrigues. Healy is a formidable part of the Australian women's team, winning multiple World Cups and has an Ashes title to her name. After missing last year's event, she will be looking to show off not only her lightning fast wicketkeeping skills, but also her hard hitting at the top of the order.
Rodrigues isn't far behind, as she lit up the tournament last year, scoring 249 runs, including three half centuries, at a strike-rate of 150.9. This dynamic duo will be looking to guide the Superchargers to reach bigger scores and better performances than last year.
They will be lined up against some fiercely quick bowling in the form of Shabnim Ismail, the highest wicket-taker in the history of the South African women's team. Since the start of 2019, she has taken 43 scalps in T20 internationals, and although she had a disappointing tournament last year, she has the opportunity to set the competition on fire.
There are limited tickets available for this match.
Temperatures are likely to reach up to 31 degrees celsius in Surrey. The Met Office has announced an amber warning for extreme heat.
Jemimah Rodrigues had an excellent tournament in 2021 (Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Oval Invincibles: Lauren Winfield-Hill, Alice Capsey, Grace Gibbs, Danielle Gregory, Shabnim Ismail, Sophia Smale (replaced Emma Jones), Marizanne Kapp, Dane van Niekerk, Mady Villiers, Aylish Cranstone, Emily Windsor, Eva Gray, Kira Chathli, Suzie Bates, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Kirstie White (replaced Tash Farrant)
Northern Superchargers: Hollie Armitage, Alice Davidson-Richards, Alyssa Healy, Bess Heath, Beth Langston, Katie Levick, Kalea Moore, Jemimah Rodrigues, Liz Russell, Linsey Smith, Laura Wolvaardt, Jenny Gunn, Lucy Higham, Heather Graham, Bethany Harmer, Rachel Slater
Oval Invincibles: Lauren Winfield-Hill, Alice Capsey, Dane van Niekerk, Aylish Cranstone, Marizanne Kapp, Emily Windsor, Mady Villiers, Grace Gibbs, Danielle Gregory, Shabnim Ismail, Eva Gray
Northern Superchargers: Alyssa Healy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Laura Wolvaardt, Bess Heath, Hollie Armitage, Alice Davidson-Richards, Jenny Gunn, Beth Langston, Linsey Smith, Kalea Moore, Katie Levick
The latest Oddschecker summary of The Hundred can be found by clicking here.
Oval Invincibles will be looking to get their title defence off to a quick start, and they have strength in all areas. They look good on paper, with a mix of young talent and experience which will set them up to be a difficult team to beat.
We don't know how good Northern Superchargers are going to be. They posted too many low scores last season, however they have addressed this problem by employing Australian pair Alyssa Healy and Heather Graham. But do they have the bowling depth to see them go far in the competition? Oval Invincibles might just edge it.
Sky Sports has live coverage of the match on their dedicated cricket channel (Sky 404, Virgin 504).
Now TV offer daily access to Sky Sports for £11.99 or monthly access for £33.99.
BBC2 will also cover the match.
On radio, Test Match Special will have ball-by-ball commentary on 5Live Sports Extra
The Cricketer will have text commentary of the game as well as post-match analysis and reaction.
Visit The Cricketer's Hundred Hub for the latest news, team guides, competition information, squad listings and analysis.
North America - Willow tv
Caribbean - ESPN
Sub-Saharan Africa - SuperSport
MENA - beIN Sports
Australia - Fox
New Zealand - Spark
Indian Subcontinent - FanCode
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