European Cricket Network live broadcasts four T10 matches on Day 2 of the 2021 FanCode ECS Germany, Krefeld on Tuesday 18 May.
MSC Frankfurt, European Cricket Series Frankfurt champions, are the only side featuring at the FanCode ECS Germany Krefeld to boast any previous ECS experience. MSF more than lived up to their heavyweight billing with two impressive wins over Bayer Uerdingen Boosters and are the team to beat in Group A.
Formed only in 2018, VfB Gelsenkirchen twice easily overcame fellow newcomers Koln Challengers to get their campaign off to a flying start on the opening day.
Group A
MSF MSC Frankfurt (2-0, NRR+5.521)
VG VfB Gelsenkirchen (2-0, NRR+3.265)
ARS Aachen Rising Stars (0-0, NRR+0.000)
KCH Köln Challengers (0-2, NRR-3.265)
BUB Bayer Uerdingen Boosters (0-2, NRR-5.521)
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MATCH 5 (ECS21.344)
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB) v VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG)
0700 GMT | 0900 CET | 1230 IST
MATCH 6 (ECS21.345)
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB) v VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG)
0900 GMT | 1100 CET | 1430 IST
BUB Last Five Matches: L L (Avg Score For 59, Avg Score Against 114)
VG Last Five Matches: W W (Avg Score For 85, Avg Score Against 52)
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB)
Captain: Kumar Mahendran
Wicketkeeper: Ahilan Ravinthran
Projected Top Four: Kumar Mahendran, Aritharan Vaseekaran, Ahilan Ravinthran, Thinesh Rajakulasingam
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, scalped two wickets from two games on Monday.
Aritharan Vaseekaran, another former Germany international who will look to get the Boosters off to a quick start.
Ahilan Ravinthran, looked the pick of all BUB batsmen scoring a quickfire 19 off 11 balls in the first game, he would love to stay longer at the crease and showcase his talent on the grand European Cricket stage.
Pakeetharan Praba, leads the bowling attack for Boosters, looked in good form picking up 2-18 vs MSF in the second match.
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, racked up 42 runs from two games including a valuable contribution of 32 runs in the second game.
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.
Sahalom Dhaly impressed with both bat and ball on Monday scoring 65 runs and picking up four wickets from two matches. He also bagged back-to-back man-of-the-match awards for his significant contributions.
Bayer Uerdingen Boosters twice came off second best against MSC Frankfurt, one of the heavyweights in German cricket, which was not a major surprise. BUB, playing on home soil, did manage to post 87 in their first innings against MSF which augurs well for future matches. VfB Gelsenkirchen twice easily defended scores of 74 and 96 batting first to start with a bang against Koln Challengers. It will be interesting to see the VG response when asked to chase a target.
Match Prediction: VfB Gelsenkirchen (VG) to win both games convincingly and maintain their unbeaten record.
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MATCH 7 (ECS21.346)
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF) v AACHEN RISING STARS (ARS)
1100 GMT | 1300 CET | 1630 IST
MATCH 8 (ECS21.347)
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF) v AACHEN RISING STARS (ARS)
1300 GMT | 1500 CET | 1830 IST
MSF Last Five Matches: L W W W W (Avg Score For 117, Avg Score Against 79)
ARS Last Five Matches: ON ECS DEBUT
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. Scored a blistering 50 off just 22 balls in the second game to bag the man-of-the-match award.
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. Racked up an unbeaten 63 off 32 balls in the first match, also picked up four wickets from two games on Monday.
Nafees Buttar, left-arm off-spinner, very accurate with his line and length, returned impressive figures of 3-6 in the second match.
AACHEN RISING STARS (ARS)
Captain: Varun Reddy
Wicketkeeper: Sagar Kataria
Projected Top Four: Varun Reddy, Sagar Kataria, Faheem Jan, Gulistan Muhammad
Projected Opening Bowlers: Ahmad Shirzad, Faheem Jan
Spin Options: Varun Reddy, Dhaval Goyani, Asif Rauf
AACHEN RISING STARS Key Players:
Sagar Kataria, classy batsman, very consistent, leading run scorer for the club last year, loves playing spin and reverse sweeps well.
Faheem Jan, all-rounder, can swing the ball both ways and hit a long ball when needed.
Ahmad Shirzad, left-arm fast bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways, can clock very high speeds when in good rhythm, will lead the attack for ARS.
Varun Reddy, captain, will open the innings for his side, a good timer of the ball and bowls some tidy off-spin.
MSF looked a powerful all-round unit in their two dominant wins over Bayer Uerdingen Boosters and it’s clearly going to take a strong outfit to challenge them in Group A. Aachen Rising Stars enter the fray on Tuesday with two interesting match-ups against MSF in prospect. ARS boast a host of explosive talent in their ranks and it will be interesting to see if they can perform on the big stage. MSF will know the conditions well though from the opening day, so it’s hard to look past two more victories for the ECS Frankfurt champions.
Match Prediction: MSC Frankfurt (MSF) to rack up two more wins to stay atop of Group A standings.