- Northern Superchargers won only two of their seven completed matches last season
- Rockets batsman Sam Hain scored six half-centuries in 12 T20 Blast innings for Birmingham Bears this summer
- Recommended bet: Sam Hain to be Trent Rockets Top Run Scorer at 3/1 with LiveScore Bet

Northern Superchargers finished bottom of the table in The Hundred last season and they start their 2024 campaign without several of their star men.

Captain Harry Brook is playing for England in the third Test against the West Indies, as is Ben Stokes, and brilliant West Indies batsman Nicholas Pooran is still involved in Major League Cricket in the USA.

Trent Rockets lifted the trophy in 2022 but lost a thrilling clash with the Superchargers by three runs last summer, and another competitive contest is expected at Headingley.

Team news

With Brook and Stokes away on England Test duty, Australia's Matthew Short is set to captain the side. 

Pacemen Pat Brown and Ben Dwarshuis have been added to the squad along with experienced Glamorgan batsman Colin Ingram.

Trent Rockets spinner Rashid Khan is involved in Major League Cricket in the USA, so Chris Green has joined as a short-term replacement. Joe Root is away with England for the third Test against the West Indies.

The stats

Northern Superchargers won only two of their seven completed matches last season, but opener Short will look to impress after he was the leading batsman in the 2023-24 Big Bash with 541 runs.

Three of the six highest individual scores in The Hundred last year came at Headingley.

Alex Hales scored only 88 runs in seven innings for Trent Rockets in 2023, while Rockets batsman Hain scored six half-centuries in 12 T20 Blast innings for Birmingham Bears this summer.

Trent Rockets won their first two meetings with the Superchargers before a three-run defeat last year.

Prediction

Northern Superchargers and Trent Rockets have had to rustle up some short-term replacements for players still involved in England's Test series against the West Indies and the USA's T20 MLC tournament.

However, several classy performers are available for Friday's clash in Leeds, where the Superchargers should be captained by Australia star Short.

He was a cut above his fellow batters in last season's Big Bash, scoring 541 runs – 175 more than any other player in the competition – and often opening the bowling for Adelaide Strikers.

Hain of the Trent Rockets has enjoyed a similarly prolific campaign for Birmingham Bears in this summer's T20 Blast.

He looks worth backing to top-score for the Rockets, having reached 50 in six of his 12 Blast innings including 93 against Northamptonshire last week.

The right-hander, who made 89 on his England ODI debut against Ireland last year, smashed 98 not out from just 48 balls for the Bears against Yorkshire at Headingley earlier this month and could light up the Leeds venue again.