European Cricket Network live broadcasts four T10 matches on Day 4 of the 2021 FanCode ECS Germany, Krefeld on Thursday 20 May.
European Cricket Series Frankfurt champions, MSC Frankfurt sit comfortably at the top of Group A standings with five wins from six and look likely winners of Group A. Both Aachen Rising Stars and VfB Gelsenkirchen have impressed on debut and will battle it out for second spot, while Bayer Uerdingen Boosters and winless Koln Challengers will try and sneak into the final qualification spot.
Group A
MSF MSC Frankfurt (5-1, NRR+4.234)
VG VfB Gelsenkirchen (3-1, NRR+1.685)
ARS Aachen Rising Stars (3-1, NRR+1.401)
BUB Bayer Uerdingen Boosters (1-5, NRR-2.717)
KCH Köln Challengers (0-4, NRR-4.349)
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MATCH 13 (ECS21.352)
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF) v VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG)
0700 GMT | 0900 CET | 1230 IST
MATCH 14 (ECS21.353)
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF) v VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG)
0900 GMT | 1100 CET | 1430 IST
MSF Last Five Matches: W W L W W (Avg Score For 119, Avg Score Against 69)
VG Last Five Matches: W W W L (Avg Score For 86, Avg Score Against 67)
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, has mustered 95 runs from four innings at a strike rate of 279, scored a blistering 10-ball 41* on Tuesday to take his side to victory, has bagged two man of the match awards as well.
Adel Khan, second highest run scorer with 114 runs to his name. Racked up an unbeaten 63 off 32 balls in the first match, has also picked up five wickets.
Nafees Buttar, left-arm off-spinner, very accurate with his line and length, has scalped four wickets from four matches at an economy rate of just 6.95. Returned impressive figures of 3-6 in the second match, scored a blistering 11-ball 32* to earn himself a man of the match award vs KCH.
Qader Khan has been impressive with the ball picking up seven wickets so far at an economy rate of 6.88 and a best return of 3-13. He is the leading wicket taker in the tournament so far.
VFB GELSENKIRCHEN (VG)
Captain: Swapnil Varhade
Wicketkeeper: Swapnil Varhade
Projected Top Four: Swapnil Varhade, Phanish Rachuru, Arfan Malik, Sahalom Dhaly
Projected Opening Bowlers: Arfan Malik, Sahalom Dhaly
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 69 runs from four innings including a valuable contribution of 32 runs in the second game.
Shahidullah Arman has been mighty good with the ball scalping five wickets conceding at just 4.28 runs per over, with best figures of 2-9 against BUB.
Swapnil Varhade, captain, plays the anchor role holding the innings together, giving others the freedom to play dynamic innings, mustered a 27-ball 47 against BUB on Tuesday to bag his first man of the match award.
Sahalom Dhaly impressed with both bat and ball on Monday scoring 65 runs from three innings, and has picked up four wickets. He also bagged back-to-back man-of-the-match awards for his significant contributions.
VfB Gelsenkirchen made an impressive start to their campaign with three straight wins but lost to BUB in their last game which was a huge reality check. Facing a tough double-header against German powerhouse MSC Frankfurt, VG will have to take their game to another level in order to compete.
Match Prediction: MSC Frankfurt (MSF) to win both games, but the early game at 0900 CEST could be the closer of the two encounters.
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MATCH 15 (ECS21.354)
AACHEN RISING STARS (ARS) v KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
1100 GMT | 1300 CET | 1630 IST
MATCH 16 (ECS21.355)
AACHEN RISING STARS (ARS) v KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
1300 GMT | 1500 CET | 1830 IST
ARS Last Five Matches: L W W W (Avg Score For 101, Avg Score Against 97)
KCH Last Five Matches: L L L L (Avg Score For 57, Avg Score Against 108)
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, scored a well compiled 55 with shots all around the park against BUB on Wednesday earning the man of the match award.
Faheem Jan, all-rounder, can swing the ball both ways and hit a long ball when needed, mustered an unbeaten 35 vs MSF to take his side home.
Ahmad Shirzad, left-arm fast bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways, can clock very high speeds when in good rhythm, leads the ARS bowling attack picking up two wickets at an economy rate of seven.
Varun Reddy, captain, will open the innings for his side, a good timer of the ball and bowls some tidy off-spin, top scorer in the tournament so far with 131 runs from four matches.
KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
Captain: Vijay Rathnavel
Wicketkeeper: Vijay Rathnavel
Projected Top Four: Amey Potale, Sriram Gurumurthy, Ayush Sharma, Rohit Narayanan
Projected Opening Bowlers: Nikhil Patil, Aravind Muthusubramanian
Spin Options: Sriram Gurumurthy
KÖLN CHALLENGERS Key Players:
Amey Potale, destructive opening batsman, loves anything short and can dispatch it with disdain, top scorer for his side with 57 runs from four matches.
Sriram Gurumurthy, considered an elegant slogger by his teammates, he will have the responsibility of providing KCH with quick starts, has picked up three wickets from four matches.
Nikhil Patil, top wicket taker for KCH picking up six wickets from four matches with a best return of 3-13.
Aravind Muthusubramanian, good consistent bowler who has the canny knack of picking up wickets, scalped two wickets from two games on Monday.
Aachen Rising Stars have won three in a row and look set to keep the momentum going against a Koln Challengers side that have struggled in all facets of the game. ARS will aim for big wins in order to boost their NRR to finish ahead of VfB Gelsenkirchen at number two in the standings.
Match Prediction: Aachen Rising Stars (ARS) to win both encounters with plenty to spare.