International allrounder Marcus Stoinis, who has had a quiet influence in the Nottingham-based Trent Rockets' push for the playoffs - mainly with the ball - will play in Saturday's semi-final "eliminator'' at The Oval against the Northern Superchargers.
Victory would earn him a place in the tournament final on Sunday at Lord's against the already qualified Oval Invincibles, the table-toppers for whom Jason Behrendorff has proved a key bowler during the competition with his 10 wickets.
Big-hitting Stoinis hasn't really fired with the bat for the Rockets, amassing only 82 runs in seven knocks, but he's earned eight valuable wickets, including his key 2-0 off one five-ball "over'' when they beat the Superchargers at Nottingham a fortnight ago.
On Wednesday, Stoinis had another fairly underwhelming outing, hit for 11 off his five deliveries and then dismissed for 12 off 13 balls as the Rockets chased down the Birmingham Phoenix's 9-111 at Trent Bridge.
Eventually, the Rockets, for whom Joe Root scored a run-a-ball 25, prevailed by three wickets with just a ball to spare.
That was thanks largely to a fine effort from England's exciting young spinning allrounder Rehan Ahmed, who followed up his 3-15 off his 20-ball allocation with an innings-high 37 from 23 balls.
With Saturday's weather forecast in London not promising, the good news for the Rockets is that, in finishing second on the table, they will automatically qualify for the final if the eliminator is washed out.
Earlier at Trent Bridge, the franchises' women's teams, already both eliminated from playoff contention, were playing for pride under their Australian captains, with Ash Gardner's Rockets eking out a three-wicket win over Ellyse Perry's Phoenix.
Gardner got the bragging rights, bowling nicely for her 1-18 and pulling off a brilliant run-out of Marie Kelly, while her teammate Alana King also spun her way to 1-21. Perry, though, fell for 14 as the Phoenix struggled to 6-123.
Another Australian international, Megan Schutt, took 2-24, including the key wicket of Gardner for 10, as the Rockets laboured in reply, but English superstar Nat Sciver-Brunt's 52 proved key to them limping past their target with three balls remaining.
