European Cricket Network live broadcasts four T10 matches on Day 1 of the 2021 FanCode ECS Germany, Krefeld on Monday 16 May.
MSC Frankfurt are the team to beat in Group A on account of their cricketing talent and tournament pedigree. In fact, the European Cricket Series Frankfurt champions are the only side featuring at the FanCode ECS Germany Krefeld to boast any previous ECS experience.
Formed only in 2018, VfB Gelsenkirchen are a relatively new, inexperienced team, with little previous exposure on the big stage. That said, what was once a social group of refugees have evolved into a talented team definitely ready to spring a surprise or two in hardball cricket.
Koln Challengers were formed in 2013 and can boast much less silverware than their more illustrious local rivals Koln CC. However, Koln Challengers are not to be underestimated over the shorter format and will look to reach the knockout stages at the very least.
Formed only last year, Bayer Uerdingen Boosters find themselves on a very steep learning curve in this tournament, but do enjoy the benefit of home advantage.
Aachen Rising Stars boast a host of explosive talent in their ranks and it will be interesting to see if they can perform on the big stage when entering the fray on Tuesday.
Group A
ARS Aachen Rising Stars (0-0, NRR+0.000)
BUB Bayer Uerdingen Boosters (0-0, NRR+0.000)
KCH Köln Challengers (0-0, NRR+0.000)
MSF MSC Frankfurt (0-0, NRR+0.000)
VG VfB Gelsenkirchen (0-0, NRR+0.000)
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MATCH 1 (ECS21.340)
VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG) v KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
0700 GMT | 0900 CET | 1230 IST
VG Last Five Matches: ON ECS DEBUT
KCH Last Five Matches: ON ECS DEBUT
VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG)
Captain: Swapnil Varhade
Wicketkeeper: Swapnil Varhade
Projected Top Four: Suliman Hugakhil, Mirwali Jabarkheel, Sahalom Dhaly, Swapnil Varhade
Projected Opening Bowlers: Arfan Malik, Shrutarv Awasthi
Spin Options: Shahidullah Arman, Vignaesh Sankaran, Anil Kavi
VFB GELSENKIRCHEN Key Players:
Suliman Hugakhil, dynamic all-rounder who adds value with his abilities not only with bat and ball, but also with his agile fielding.
Mirwali Jabarkheel, young and extremely talented opening batsman, likes to dominate bowlers with his hard hitting abilities, can be devastating if he gets going.
Swapnil Varhade, captain, plays the anchor role holding the innings together, giving others the freedom to play dynamic innings.
Shrutarv Awasthi will lead the VG bowling attack, has the ability to swing the ball and hits good lengths and areas.
KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
Captain: Kesava Motati
Wicketkeeper: Vijay Rathnavel
Projected Top Four: Amey Potale, Sriram Gurumurthy, Ayush Sharma, Rohit Narayanan
Projected Opening Bowlers: Kesava Motati, Aravind Muthusubramanian
Spin Options: Sriram Gurumurthy
KÖLN CHALLENGERS Key Players:
Amey Potale, destructive opening batsman, loves anything short and can dispatch it with disdain.
Sriram Gurumurthy, considered an elegant slogger by his teammates, he will have the responsibility of providing KCH with quick starts, can roll his arm over too.
Kesava Motati, captain, will lead the bowling attack, has the ability to swing the ball both ways.
Aravind Muthusubramanian, good consistent bowler who has the canny knack of picking up wickets.
Both VfB Gelsenkirchen and Köln Challengers feature for the first time on the grand European Cricket stage and would like to start their ECS campaign on a high.
Match Prediction: Köln Challengers (KCH) to win comfortably.
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MATCH 2 (ECS21.341)
VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG) v KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
0900 GMT | 1100 CET | 1430 IST
VG Last Five Matches: ON ECS DEBUT
KCH Last Five Matches: ON ECS DEBUT
VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG)
Captain: Swapnil Varhade
Wicketkeeper: Swapnil Varhade
Projected Top Four: Suliman Hugakhil, Mirwali Jabarkheel, Sahalom Dhaly, Swapnil Varhade
Projected Opening Bowlers: Arfan Malik, Shrutarv Awasthi
Spin Options: Shahidullah Arman, Vignaesh Sankaran, Anil Kavi
VFB GELSENKIRCHEN Key Players:
Suliman Hugakhil, dynamic all-rounder who adds value with his abilities not only with bat and ball, but also with his agile fielding.
Mirwali Jabarkheel, young and extremely talented opening batsman, likes to dominate bowlers with his hard hitting abilities, can be devastating if he gets going.
Swapnil Varhade, captain, plays the anchor role holding the innings together, giving others the freedom to play dynamic innings.
Shrutarv Awasthi will lead the VG bowling attack, has the ability to swing the ball and hits good lengths and areas.
KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
Captain: Kesava Motati
Wicketkeeper: Vijay Rathnavel
Projected Top Four: Amey Potale, Sriram Gurumurthy, Ayush Sharma, Rohit Narayanan
Projected Opening Bowlers: Kesava Motati, Aravind Muthusubramanian
Spin Options: Sriram Gurumurthy
KÖLN CHALLENGERS Key Players:
Amey Potale, destructive opening batsman, loves anything short and can dispatch it with disdain.
Sriram Gurumurthy, considered an elegant slogger by his teammates, he will have the responsibility of providing KCH with quick starts, can roll his arm over too.
Kesava Motati, captain, will lead the bowling attack, has the ability to swing the ball both ways.
Aravind Muthusubramanian, good consistent bowler who has the canny knack of picking up wickets..
These two teams meet again having gained some precious knowledge about the playing conditions and would look to utilise it to the best of their abilities.
Last time they met: ECS21.340 | VG 74 def KCH 49 (17 May 2021)
Match Prediction: VfB Gelsenkirchen (VB) to register their first win avenging previous defeat.
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MATCH 3 (ECS21.342)
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB) v MSC FRANKFURT (MSF)
1100 GMT | 1300 CET | 1630 IST
BUB Last Five Matches: ON ECS DEBUT
MSF Last Five Matches: W L L W W (Avg Score For 115, Avg Score Against 95)
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB)
Captain: Kumar Mahendran
Wicketkeeper: Ahilan Ravinthran
Projected Top Four: Kumar Mahendran, Aritharan Vaseekaran, Ashok Hardik, Ahilan Ravinthran
Projected Opening Bowlers: Pakeetharan Praba, Gobinath Navarathinam
Spin Options: Kumar Mahendran, Stebin Stephen
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS Key Players:
Kumar Mahendran, former Germany international, will be looking to lead by example with bat and ball, leading wicket taker in club history.
Aritharan Vaseekaran, another former Germany international who will look to get the Boosters off to a quick start.
Ashok Hardik, decent top order batsman, was top scorer for BUB in the 2020 season, will look to impress on the grand European Cricket stage, will be interesting to see how he adapts to the T10 format.
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF)
Captain: Sekandar Khan
Wicketkeeper: Habib Rahman
Projected Top Four: Adel Khan, Shahid Afridi, Sekandar Khan, Nafees Buttar
Projected Opening Bowlers: Waheed Ahmed, Shahid Afridi
Spin Options: Adel Khan, Nafees Buttar
MSC FRANKFURT Key Players:
Shahid Afridi, hard hitting opening batsman, mustered 168 runs from eight matches in ECS at a strike rate of 218 and picked up six wickets with the ball.
Sekandar Khan, captain, big hitter, has mustered 148 runs at the ECS stage from eight matches including an unbeaten 53 off 22 balls.
Adel Khan has racked up 156 runs for MSF in ECS from eight matches including a fifty and has scalped five wickets with his deceptive spin bowling.
Muslim Yar, top wicket taker for MSF in ECS picking up 11 wickets at an economy rate of under seven with a best return of 2-8.
MSC Frankfurt are the only team in the competition with previous ECS experience and will start favourites. On debut, Bayer Uerdingen Boosters will enjoy home advantage and would want to start positively as well.
Match Prediction: MSC Frankfurt (MSF) to win at a canter.
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MATCH 4 (ECS21.343)
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB) v MSC FRANKFURT (MSF)
1300 GMT | 1500 CET | 1830 IST
BUB Last Five Matches: ON ECS DEBUT
MSF Last Five Matches: W L L W W (Avg Score For 115, Avg Score Against 95)
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB)
Captain: Kumar Mahendran
Wicketkeeper: Ahilan Ravinthran
Projected Top Four: Kumar Mahendran, Aritharan Vaseekaran, Ashok Hardik, Ahilan Ravinthran
Projected Opening Bowlers: Pakeetharan Praba, Gobinath Navarathinam
Spin Options: Kumar Mahendran, Stebin Stephen
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS Key Players:
Kumar Mahendran, former Germany international, will be looking to lead by example with bat and ball, leading wicket taker in club history.
Aritharan Vaseekaran, another former Germany international who will look to get the Boosters off to a quick start.
Ashok Hardik, decent top order batsman, was top scorer for BUB in the 2020 season, will look to impress on the grand European Cricket stage, will be interesting to see how he adapts to the T10 format.
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF)
Captain: Sekandar Khan
Wicketkeeper: Habib Rahman
Projected Top Four: Adel Khan, Shahid Afridi, Sekandar Khan, Nafees Buttar
Projected Opening Bowlers: Waheed Ahmed, Shahid Afridi
Spin Options: Adel Khan, Nafees Buttar
MSC FRANKFURT Key Players:
Shahid Afridi, hard hitting opening batsman, mustered 168 runs from eight matches in ECS at a strike rate of 218 and picked up six wickets with the ball.
Sekandar Khan, captain, big hitter, has mustered 148 runs at the ECS stage from eight matches including an unbeaten 53 off 22 balls.
Adel Khan has racked up 156 runs for MSF in ECS from eight matches including a fifty and has scalped five wickets with his deceptive spin bowling.
Muslim Yar, top wicket taker for MSF in ECS picking up 11 wickets at an economy rate of under seven with a best return of 2-8.
The two teams play again and while MSC Frankfurt will aim to boost their NRR to be ahead right from the start, Bayer Uerdingen Boosters will look to spring a surprise against the ECS Frankfurt winners.
Last time they met: ECS21.342 | To Be Updated (17 May 2021)
Match Prediction: MSC Frankfurt (MSF) to cruise to another victory.