New South Wales will play Somerset in the first game of Sunday in the League stage. While New South Wales carried forward two points from the previous round and have already played Trinidad and Tobago, Somerset will go into the game knowing that they only have an outside chance of making it through to the next round.

The game will be played at Hyderabad, something that should please the Somerset CCC batsmen. The pitch at Hyderabad is obviously flat, and does not assist the brand of bowling that New South Wales possesses, which will even things out a bit. However, that does not take away from the fact that in Brett Lee, Stuart Clark and Doug Bollinger, the New South Wales side possess three pace bowlers who could do well in any kind of conditions and that is what the Somerset batsmen will need to take care about.

The spin department will be taken care of by Nathan Hauritz, who has had a good couple of game, with Smith's leg-spinners also proving to be a big plus.

The batting will lie in the hands of Phil Hughes and Dave Warner, both of whom will relish the conditions in Hyderabad. Especially after coming from a venue which barely had the balls bouncing more than the shin or the knee height.

For the Somerset guys, they will continue to miss the presence of Marcus Trescothick, as he would have been one batsman who would have been able to take on the NSW bowling relatively well. The others, barring Justin Langer, are inexperienced when it comes to international cricket, and that would be a cause for concern for the Somerset top-order. Langer will need to take on the mantle of batting through the innings for the Somerset side, or face the chance of a score of losing three or four wickets for next to nothing.

But even apart from the batting, it is the bowling that is a big issue for Somerset. Charl Willoughby is the only international bowler, with Alfonso Thomas having had a couple of flings with the international arena. Thomas did have a decent game first up, but for him to be successful again, he will need to bowl as steadily and well as possible even during an onslaught, something that is a definite possibility against the New South Wales Blues.

To me, NSW Blues are huge favourites going into the game, and it will take a big enough miracle for the result to overturn.

Tag :- Brett Lee   Charl Willoughby   Dave Warner   Justin Langer   Marcus Trescothick   Nathan Hauritz   New South Wales   Somerset CCC