Fast bowler David Sewell's return helped North Otago beat Otago Country (6) by nine wickets a fortnight ago.
North Otago will be without fellow left-arm opening bowler Chris Ware, who suffered a back injury against Otago Country and has been replaced by Ricky Whyte. The only other change sees Sean Conlan, who was unavailable for the Otago Country game, recalled in place of Hayden Tisdall, who heeds the call of the rodeo.
Ben Cant, who will open the bowling with Sewell, took nine wickets in the game against Otago Country and maintained that form by taking four wickets for Otago A against the touring Tasmanian XI in Dunedin.
Southland has another string to its bow in Ryan Duffy, who batted through the Otago A innings this week for an unbeaten 115.
Three North Otago players are in sight of milestones. Duncan Drew has scored 2191 runs and is only 14 behind second-placed Norm McKenzie on the top scoring list. David Sewell needs 11 wickets to be the second player to take 200 wickets for North Otago, while Ben Cant is six wickets away from the 500 runs-50 wickets target.
Otago Country, which beat Southland on the first innings in December, plays Mid Canterbury (0 points) in Ashburton.
Country coach Andy Sainsbury has named four debutants, because of the unavailability of frontline players, including Sam Blakely, who has been called into the Otago Plunket Shield side.
Making their debuts for the province are batsmen Michael Goldstein, Will Young and Ross Anderson and bowler Adam Hubber.
Cromwell's Anderson finally gets a crack at the next tier of competition after being a prolific scorer for his club side over the past few seasons and leading his team to consecutive Scurr Cup twenty/20 victories.
Again, it will be up to the proven opening partnership of Jono Homer and Scott Paulin to get Otago Country off to a good start. Captain Eric Standfield will also be a key player with both bat and ball.
Sainsbury said Mid Canterbury was a ''solid all-round team and we will need to play our best cricket to be successful . . .''
One player Country will probably target is all-rounder Rhys Phillips, who plays club cricket in Dunedin and for Otago A.
Jono Print might also need watched, as he has scored plenty of runs against Otago Country in previous years, including a century in Alexandra last season.
North Otago v Southland
in Invercargill
North Otago: Jeremiah Shields, Ben Cant, Jordan Horrell, Stephan Grobler (captain), Duncan Drew, Ed Smith, Sean Conlan, Anthony Sewell, Darcy Hooper-Smith, David Sewell, Ricky Whyte, George Inwood.
Southland: Mark Beer, Hamish Cooke, Jason Domigan (captain), Ryan Duffy, Shaun Fitzgibbon, Michael Gratton, Jonathan Hodson, Ryan Meyer, Hamish O'Brien, Rheubyn Prattley,Craig Smith, Simon Wadworth.
Otago Country v Mid Canty
in Ashburton
Otago Country: Jono Homer, Scott Paulin, Michael Goldstein, Ross Anderson, Eric Standfield (captain), Will Young, Liam Crowley, Sean Windle, Adam Hubber, Bradley Frost, Mark Phillips.
Mid Canterbury: Ben Ward, Rob Polson, Jono Print, Des Kruger, Matt Winter (captain), Rhys Phillips, Will Southby, Tom Meyrick, Matt Tait, Harry Jones, Jeremy Punselie, Scott Maher.
- Terry O'Neill and Rhys Chamberlain.
