CITY captain Ben Patterson hopes to maintain momentum when the Sabres host Charlestown at No.1 Sportsground for the second time inside a week, bolstered by T20 Summer Bash champion James Widerstrom.
Patterson was buoyed by City's batting performance in Newcastle's first-grade competition on Saturday, posting 311 against the same opponents at the same venue.
Marquee player Widerstrom (Randwick-Petersham) joins two other 2020-21 title winners, Angus McTaggart (Randwick-Petersham) and former skipper Mitch Nesbitt, back in the Sabres squad on Tuesday (6pm).
"I feel like Saturday was a pretty good indication of what's to come," Patterson said.
"No.1 Sportsground is very quick and we've got home-ground advantage because we play there a lot.
"On top of that we've got marquee James Widerstrom in as well as Angus McTaggart and Mitch Nesbitt, which gives us a really nice balance.
"They all strike the ball well and have cricket knowledge."
City and defending T20 Summer Bash premiers Charlestown sit on five points each, leading pool A from Maitland (4), Waratah-Mayfield (4) and Toronto (2).
"We're trying not to take much notice of the standings and just trying to win games," Patterson said.
"If we can do that hopefully the rest can look after itself."
Charlestown have veteran paceman Path Shah returning after Rory Maddison's cameo last week.
Wednesday also marks a top-of-the-group clash with University (Sea Dragons) meeting Wests (Rosellas) at No.1 Sportsground.
Sydney trio Nick Stapleton, Blake Macdonald and Jeremy Nunan are available for Wests.
University look like picking up former Wests batsman Puru Gaur, now playing at Blacktown.
Recording a win and draw from their opening encounters, Uni (5) and Wests (5) eventually finish off against Belmont (2) in a pool-B double-header at Cahill Oval next Sunday (February 19).
Hamilton-Wickham (8), most recently holding aloft the T20 Summer Bash trophy in 2019-20, are three clear of Stockton (5) in pool C.
Quarter-finals are scheduled for February 26 with a top-four showdown taking place at No.1 Sportsground the following Sunday (March 5).
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