The Hundred Team-by-Team Guide: Brave could rival champs Invincibles

• Invincibles the holders

• Superchargers have big squad churn

• Group winner straight to final

• Three overseas players in each XI

Oval Invincibles 5.04/1

2023: Winners
Batting rank: 3
Bowling rank: 4
Top bat % last 2 years: Malan 38
Top bowler % last 2 years: Atkinson 36 (6 games)

Squad: Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Will Jacks, Adam Zampa, Jordon Cox, Gus Atkinson, Sam Billings, Saqib Mahmood, Spencer Johnson, Dawid Malan, Nathan Sowter, Donovan Ferreira, Tom Lammonby, Tawanda Muyeye, Marchant de Lange, Mark Watt, Harrison Ward

Possible XI: Jacks, Malan, S Curran, Billings, Cox, Ferreira, T Curran, Zampa, Atkinson, Johnson, Sowter

Analysis: The champs. But there's no Heinrich Klaasen this season. Instead Donovan Ferreira will play the role of the South African middle-order destructive force. Mohammad Amir has one game before Spencer Johnson's arrival from the Major League. They do need Gus Atkinson to be given the all-clear once England have finished their Test series against the West Indies. Sam Curran's recent T20 ton means he will be well-equipped to bat up the order, which seems necessary.

Manchester Originals 6.05/1

2023: Runners-up
Batting rank: 1
Bowling rank: 5
Top bat % last 2 years: Buttler 53
Top bowler % last 2 years: Hartley 22

Squad: Jos Buttler, Jamie Overton, Phil Salt, Sikandar Raza, Paul Walter, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Tom Hartley, Usama Mir, Wayne Madsen, Max Holden, Josh Hull, Mitch Stanley, Sonny Baker, Matthew Hurst, Tom Aspinwall, Scott Currie

Possible XI: Buttler, Salt, Holden, Madsen, Raza, Walter, J Overton, Usama, Hartley, Farooqi, Aspinwall

Analysis: Originals have suffered a player drain after last season's run to the final. Laurie Evans has gone to the Brave, Richard Gleeson to Spirit. Josh Tongue is injured. But Faz Farooqi, top wicket-taker in the World Cup, is a good signing. They are stacked with hitters and should be reliable to bust those par lines. All the way down to No 8 they know only one way. Whether they have the bowling nous remains to be seen.

Birmingham Phoenix 6.05/1

2023: 6th
Batting rank: 8
Bowling rank: 2
Top bat % last 2 years: Duckett 35
Top bowler % last 2 years: Howell 26

Squad: Chris Woakes, Tim Southee, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Ben Duckett, Benny Howell, Adam Milne, Jamie Smith, Louis Kimber, Sean Abbott, Tom Helm, James Fuller, Dan Mousley, Jacob Bethell, Aneurin Donald, Rishi Patel.

Possible XI: Duckett, Donald, Smith, Livingstone, Moeen, Bethell, Mousley, Abbott, Woakes, Southee, Milne,

Analysis: An early angle for Phoenix is whether Jamie Smith, Aneurin Donald or Rishi Patel opens the batting. Smith has done it in the Blast and UAET20. Dionald and Patel likewise in the Blast. It's a squad, otherwise, which doesn't really inspire. Jacob Bethell catches the eye in the middle-order but Tim Southee feels like a panic signing after Naseem Shah was ruled out. They could miss Tanver Sangha's leggies from last season. It might be a struggle for them this time.

Trent Rockets 8.07/1

2023: 5th
Batting rank: 2
Bowling rank: 6
Top bat % last 2 years: Lyth 36
Top bowler % last 2 years: Cook 16.6

Squad: Joe Root, Rovman Powell, Rashid Khan, Imad Wasim, Alex Hales, Lewis Gregory, Luke Wood, Tom Banton, John Turner, Sam Hain, Sam Cook, Calvin Harrison, Jordan Thompson, Adam Lyth, Ollie Robinson, Tom Alsop.

Possible XI: Lyth, Hales, Banton, Hain, Powell, Gregory, Imad, Rashid, L Wood, Harrison, Cook

Analysis: Rockets have good options to change-up if things aren't going to plan. Joe Root, when available, is useful if required from the bench. Likewise John Turner. Adam Lyth and Alex Hales could be explosive up front, although the latter is increasingly unpredictable. The challenge will be to find consistency from the axis of Powell-Gregory-Imad in the middle- to lower-order. Rashid Khan should ensure a play-off spot at least after being absent for 2023. That bowling rank improves significantly.

Southern Brave 8.07/1

2023: 3rd
Batting rank: 7
Bowling rank: 1
Top bat % last 2 years: Du Plooy 15
Top bowler % last 2 years: Rehan 16

Squad: Jofra Archer, Kieron Pollard, James Vince, Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills, Laurie Evans, Leus Du Plooy, Akeal Hosein, Rehan Ahmed, Craig Overton, Finn Allen, Danny Briggs, George Garton, Alex Davies, James Coles, Joe Weatherley.

Possible XI: Vince, Allen, Davies, Du Plooy, Evans, C Overton, Akeal, Briggs, Ahmed, Jordan, Archer

Analysis: There's no such thing as a perfect team and the only fly in the ointment for Brave this term could be Kieron Pollard. Pollard's form waxes and wanes these days and they need more reliability one suspects in the crucial finisher role. It might be best he doesn't play. The balance is there with an excellent front four (Leus Du Plooy is first-class) while their pace options are an embarrassment of riches. Just as well considering Jofra Archer's fitness. They should go close.

London Spirit 8.07/1

2023: 7
Batting rank: 5
Bowling rank: 7
Top bat % last 2 years: Rossington 31
Top bowler % last 2 years: Worrall 42 (7 games)

Squad: Zak Crawley, Andre Russell, Shimron Hetmyer, Nathan Ellis, Dan Lawrence, Liam Dawson, Dan Worrall, Olly Stone, Adam Rossington, Richard Gleeson, Ollie Pope, Daniel Bell-Drummond, Matthew Critchley, Michael Pepper, Ravi Bopara, Ryan Higgins, Jimmy Neesham, Matthew Taylor

Possible XI: Crawley, Rossington, Pepper, Lawrence, Russell, Hetmyer, Bopara, Dawson, Ellis/Worrall, Gleeson, Stone

Analysis: Spirit are right to be drifting towards outright rags for the tournament. For a start there are three batters in the squad (Pope, Bell-Drummond and Bopara) who will make punters' eyes glaze over. Andre Russell and Shimron Hetmyer will be expected to carry this team and, IPL aside for Dre Russ, that doesn't look too smart on other league form. Too big an improvement required across the metrics for them to win it.

Northern Superchargers 8.07/1

2023: 8
Batting rank: 4
Bowling rank: 8
Top bat % last 2 years: Brook 23
Top bowler % last 2 years: Rashid, Topley 25

Squad: Ben Stokes, Nicholas Pooran, Adil Rashid, Harry Brook, Reece Topley, Mitchell Santner, Matthew Short, Jason Roy, Adam Hose, Tom Lawes, Matthew Potts, Graham Clark, Callum Parkinson, Ollie Robinson, Jordan Clark, Dillon Pennington

Possible XI: Roy, Short, Pooran, Brook, Hose, Clark, Santner, Rashid, Parkinson, Topley, Pennington

Analysis: Another side who should be correctly priced. Superchargers are in chaos before the tournament has started with six of their squad potentially unavailable for week one at least. Ben Stokes will be available for four games only and Harry Brook the whole shebang apart from (most likely) the first three games. Squad churn is never great for success and they are taken to have another miserable season after a bottom-placed finish last year.

Welsh Fire 9.08/1

2023: 4
Batting rank: 6
Bowling rank: 3
Top bat % last 2 years: Eskinazi 50 (8 games)
Top bowler % last 2 years: Payne 26

Squad: Jonny Bairstow, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, David Willey, Matt Henry, Joe Clarke, Haris Rauf, Tom Abell, Glenn Phillips, David Payne, Luke Wells, Roelof van der Merwe, Jake Ball, Stevie Eskinazi, Chris Cooke, Mason Crane, Ben Green

Possible XI: Bairstow, Eskinazi, Clarke, Phillips, Abell, Willey, van der Merwe, Payne, Rauf, Henry, Crane

Analysis: Fire are much improved after two poor opening seasons. A play-off spot last season came after a squad revamp. If Jonny Bairstow rediscovers his mojo the front five with the bat is very good. Mason Crane and Roelof van der Merwe complement each other in the spin department while Haris Rauf and Matt Henry are superb pace operators. They probably lack an all-rounder which wins games with bat or ball but David Willey would argue otherwise.

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