Today we have Auckland Aces taking on Wellington Firebirds in Auckland, with the winner booking a spot in the Ford Trophy final vs Otago Volts. To get you warmed up, I've whipped together a little primer for the elimination final, previewing the two squads named and a couple of key players who either team will be hoping can step up on the big stage.

Wellington have maintained a fairly settled Ford Trophy group throughout the competition and nothing changes going into the elimination final. Having named a squad of 13, I suspect that veteran batsman Michael Pollard will be on drinks duty as we are likely to see the same top-five from their most recent outing; Andrew Fletcher, Jakob Bhula, Devon Conway, Michael Bracewell and Jimmy Neesham.

The real selection funk will come with the bowlers where Iain McPeake, Ben Sears and Ollie Newton are all worthy of joining Hamish Bennett as the Firebirds seamers. Sears is the youngest, but full of energy, while McPeake and Newton are fairly similar in the sense that they are both typical right-arm kiwi seamers; Newton's ranked 5th in wickets thus making him the likeliest option. That leaves Sears and McPeake in a battle for the third seamer role.

Malcolm Nofal and Peter Younghusband will offer spin. Perhaps if it's a super seamy deck in Auckland, Wellington may opt for a full gang of seamers, although that's unlikely given that via Neesham and Nofal's all-round ability, they can roll out three frontline seamers, Neesham, an offie and a leggy. Balance.

Possible team: Fletcher, Bhula, Conway, Bracewell, Neesham, Nofal, Johns (wk), Younghusband, Sears, Newton, Bennett.

Auckland are boosted by the return of Mark Chapman, who essentially led them to the Ford Trophy title last season. Chapman joins Colin Munro as recent inclusions and this is a massive bonus for the Aces given the destructive quality of these two; Munro went large at #3 in his return game before moving up to open for the last game (11 off 5), before swapping with Sean Solia.

With Chapman back, seamer Michael Snedden drops out of the squad and team selection will depend on whether Auckland want more bowling firepower, or relying on all-rounders. In their last outing, Auckland played with Snedden, Matt McEwan and Ben Lister as the frontline seamers, while Michael Barry and Munro all dabbled in their all-round seam bowling. Domestic OG Roneel Hira is handling the white ball spin duties for the Aces.

In the squad for this elimination final, Auckland have McEwan, Lister and Danru Ferns as their frontline seam options. Ferns has been decent throughout the competition, averaging 22.54 and that puts him behind Mitchell McClenaghan as the Aces best Ford Trophy bowler - McClenaghan gapped to play T20 cricket.

McEwan is a handy batsman as well, so I expect him and Lister to be joined by Ferns as Auckland will need a hefty bowling unit to counter Wellington's batting. Hira to do the spin thing and a few overs from Munro and Solia.

Possible team: Horne (wk), Munro, Solia, Cachopa, Chapman, Beghin, Barry, McEwan, Hira, Lister, Ferns.

Wellington opener Fletcher is leading all run-scorers and captain Bennett is leading all wicket-takers, making them key figures for the Firebirds. Neesham's averaging 53.85, with an emphatic 110.23sr and Conway has four 50+ scores in 10inns, which has me eager to see how they can influence the game when called upon to bat; all of the Firebirds top-five are key wickets for the Aces.

With the ball, the low key lad to watch out for is Nofal. The Wellington offie currently sits a wicket behind Canterbury's Cole McConchie as the leading spin wicket-taker and Nofal is the only bowler who has 10+ wickets (17 bowlers) and an economy rate below 4rpo (3.98rpo). Auckland won't want Nofal to settle, especially given the firepower in Bennett and this could present Nofal with plenty of opportunities.

Auckland's best bowler was McClenaghan, who isn't playing and their second best batsman in Solia hasn't passed 50 since the first few games of the comp. Of course, this is countered by having Munro and Chapman back in the mix, as well as skipper Cachopa (Aces leading run-scorer) coming off a half-century in the last game. Outside of Munro and Chapman, Cachopa is the one to watch out for and as far as a low key batsman, Ben Horne has hit two 50+ scores in his last 3inns which have come as an opener.

As for low key bowlers, the duo of Barry and Solia isn't exactly dangerous in terms of what they deliver, but they have been effective. They have 10w each, averaging under 30 and while they can get hit around, all they need to do is pick up a couple wickets between them to break partnerships. Wellington will want to target Solia's right-arm seam and Barry's lefty seam and on their home deck, a splash of swing/seam could give these two a niggly threat.

I've got Wellington as the best Ford Trophy team, given their talent and balance. Auckland are on a roll, even though they lost to Otago last game, as they have been boosted by the returns of Munro and Chapman which gives them immense x-factor. Will that x-factor be enough to defeat a Firebirds team that lacks any holes?

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Peace and love 27.