Back in the days when this team wore sweet pink and was called the Northern Knights, there was a memorable, balmy evening at Seddon Park when, after a long, long, long wait, Northern lifted the national men's T20 title for the first time.
It was January 2014, and the trophy had been going since 2005.
But the men from the warm, humid northern districts of Aotearoa New Zealand - heartland regional hubs and holiday spots like Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taupo, Rotorua, Counties Manukau, Northland, Waikato Valley and the Coromandel - wouldn't have to wait so long to enjoy that special feeling again.
They blew away the Central Stags who imploded in the Grand Final at the same ground in 2017/18, a massive nine-wicket victory to the Knights.
The very next season, the very same two teams made the Grand Final again, playing in the big dance at the very same venue, but this time it was the Stags celebrating with a huge win over the gutted Knights - completely reversing the tables from the previous year as they learned their lesson and bowled out their hosts for just 80.
That's T20 cricket.
So imagine the delight when, in their first year as the new-look Northern Brave, Jeet Raval and his men pulled together a brilliant season to lift the title for just the third time, last summer.
All images | PHOTOSPORT
Raval has been a massive fan of his team's bold rebrand which seeks to better align Northern's male and female cricket and flagship teams under the one moniker.
“NZC's investment to provide equal match payments for men and women is [another] positive step on the journey to gender parity within sport,” says Raval who returns as captain for the Dream11 Super Smash campaign tonight.
“It’s really pleasing to see a shift over the winter and we’re looking forward to spending a lot more time with one another and learning from how the different environments go about things,” he said.
His side is in excellent form following a strong showing in the one-day Ford Trophy where Northern Districts sits in third spot, on equal points with tonight's opponents Canterbury, and just two points below the Stags after six of 10 rounds as a leading contender.
Raval's rightly full of optimism heading into the shortest format of the game and the first big clash of the defence.
“We’re very much looking to continue the brand of cricket we’ve played so far this season.
"The guys all have a great understanding of how they want to go about it individually, and we’re looking to reproduce the same formula as last season.”
Keep an eye on the (unrelated) pair of youngsters, big-hitting Katene Clarke (below) and dreamy young ex-NZ Under 19 star allrounder Kristian Clarke.
Another one to watch is left-arm spinner Tim Pringle who is in line to make his T20 Northern Brave debut at his home grouns in the Mount. The tall son of former BLACKCAPS swing bowler Chris Pringle and his Dutch wife has already represented The Netherlands at the World Cup this year and impressed in the other formats.
Crafty spinner Joe Walker (below) and paceman Zak Gibson also return to the group from injury and COVID-19 respectively after The Ford Trophy while the one major loss from last season is Ish Sodhi's migration to the Canterbury Kings.
Sodhi won't be there tonight, however - he's in Pakistan with the BLACKCAPS' Test squad.
“[Otherwise] it’s a similar group to the one that has played well in The Ford Trophy, and fantastic having a guy like Mitch Santner in the mix as well, he's a beautiful fit to what is a really settled side,” said Raval.
Santner will be looking to repeat his grand final heroics against the Canterbury Kings - he scored a ballistic 92 not out off just 40 balls in an insanely good innnings that magic night, setting up a 56-run win for the Brave at Seddon over the frustrated and very strong Kings who keep getting close for no cigar.
Tonight they are under the bright lights of Bay Oval on the coast, one of Northern's three main home venues, along with Seddon in Hamilton and Whangarei's Cobham Oval up north; a home Grand Final rematch against the Canterbury Kings - the first men's match of the season.
Northern's other home doubleheaders are on 6 January at Hamilton's Seddon Park, 22 January at Bay Oval, 28 January at Seddon Park, and 3 February at Seddon Park.
Brave's away doubleheaders are on 28 December (Queenstown), 31 December (New Plymouth), 4 January (Wellington), 13 January (Christchurch) and 30 January (Auckland).
The Northern Brave squad announced for Match One on 23 Dec 2022 is:
Jeet Raval (c), Katene Clarke, Tim Seifert (w), Joe Carter, Mitchell Santner, Henry Cooper, Brett Hampton, Scott Kuggeleijn, Kristian Clarke, Joe Walker, Tim Pringle (uncapped) and Zak Gibson.
CONTRACTED PLAYERS ROSTER
Peter Bocock • RH bat, wicketkeeper
Joe Carter • RH bat
Katene Clarke • RH bat, RA medium pace
Kristian Clarke • RH bat, RA pace
Henry Cooper • RH bat, RA off spin
Matt Fisher • RA quick, RH bat
Zak Gibson • RA pace, RH bat
Brett Hampton • RH bat, RA medium pace
Scott Johnston • RH fast-medium, RH bat
Scott Kuggeleijn • RH fast-medium, RH bat
Bharat Popli • RH bat
Tim Pringle • LA off-spin, RH bat
Jeet Raval • LH top order bat, Left-arm leg-spin
Mitchell Santner* • LA off-spin, LH bat
Tim Seifert • RH top order bat, wicketkeeper
Tim Southee* • RA swing, RH bat
Neil Wagner* • LA pace, LH bat
Freddy Walker • LA off-spin, LH bat
Joe Walker • RA off-spin, RH bat
Kane Williamson* • RH bat, RA off spin
Anurag Verma (out for the season following shoulder surgery)
Also uncontracted players:
Trent Boult • LA pace, RH bat
Colin de Grandhomme • RH bat, RA medium pace
Coach: Graeme Aldridge
Team hashtag: #NDTOGETHER
League hashtag: #SuperSmashNZ
Team website: www.ndcricket.co.nz
* NZC contracted players