The European Cricket Network live broadcasts the 2020 European Cricket Series Capelle encounter between Sparta 1888 and Excelsior 20.

PREVIEW: MATCH 6 – Sparta 1888 v Excelsior 20 – European Cricket Series Capelle

Tune in to the live action Thursday from 9am CEST * 8am UK * 7am GMT * 12:30am IST from Sportpark Bermweg in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Team Preview for Sparta 1888

Sparta are the hosts for this tournament and certainly gave their home fans something to cheer about on Day 1 of the tournament, winning all of their three matches. They can’t rest on their laurels, as they require another win or two to be sure of a place in the Gold Final on Friday. They will be without Faisal Iqbal who misses this game through injury.

Captain: Mudassar Bukhari

Main Wicketkeeper: Tim de Kok

Key Players:

Mudassar Bukhari is the Sparta captain. “Bukhi” had an outrageous strike rate of 285.71 through the first three matches and will have some more pyrotechnics planned for Thursday. He didn’t quite get the results he would have liked with the ball but he is a very valuable bowler for his team.

Musa Ahmad scored a great 61 on the first day of the series but missed out in the other two matches. He also picked up a wicket and was their most economical bowler on Wednesday.

Tim de Kok is a promising young keeper-batsman. He was actually Sparta’s leading run-scorer on Day 1 with more than half of his runs coming in maximos!

Team Preview for Excelsior 20

Excelsior didn’t put a foot wrong on the first day of the tournament winning both of their matches. Their two clashes with Sparta on Thursday will no doubt shape the final standings. They will miss Jelte Schoonheim, who was their leading run scorer on Day 1, but should return in time for Finals Friday.

Captain: Tom Heggelman

Main Wicketkeeper: Stan van Troost

Key Players:

Luuk Kroesen comes into the side. He is an exciting all-round cricketer who hits the ball hard at the top of the order. Watch out for him going over the top in the powerplay as he will pounce on anything loose.

Lorenzo Ingram is a very wily left-arm spinner who is only conceding a run a ball in the matches so far. He also possesses a very safe pair of hands in the field.

Rens van Troost is another guy that can do it all. He can take the new ball for his team and also bat high up in the batting order if required.

Mr Maximo’s tip: SPARTA 1888

This matchup fascinates me. I feel like Sparta are the “conquerors” who bank on hitting high scores and batting their opponents out of the game, while Excelsior are the “defenders” who seem to be able to hold teams under scores that don’t look particularly imposing on paper. I think Schoonheim is a big out for Excelsior and for that reason I favour Sparta 1888 to win the opening match of the day. Although I would also tip them to win the sequel later on Thursday, it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if these teams won one game each out of their two matches against each other on the second day of action in Capelle. Tune in to ECN for five more fantastic T10 games from The Netherlands!