European Cricket Network live broadcasts four T10 matches on Day 3 of the 2021 FanCode ECS Malta on Wednesday 16 June.
Group A action returns as ECS Malta 2020 winners Marsa enter the fray to take on newcomers Royal Strikers who struggled against much-improved American University of Malta on debut. The second double header between AUM and Atlas UTC Knights promises to be a humdinger with the two teams sitting on top of the group standings with two wins each.
Group A
AUMAmerican University of Malta (2-0, NRR+4.892)
AUKAtlas UTC Knights (2-0, NRR+0.300)
MARMarsa (0-0, NRR+0.000)
SOCSouthern Crusaders (0-0, NRR-0.300)
RSTRoyal Strikers (0-0, NRR-4.892)
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MATCH 9 (ECS21.444)
ROYAL STRIKERS (RST) v MARSA (MAR)
0700 GMT | 0900 CET | 1230 IST
MATCH 10 (ECS21.445)
ROYAL STRIKERS (RST) v MARSA (MAR)
0900 GMT | 1100 CET | 1430 IST
RST Last Five Matches: L L (Avg Score For 58, Avg Score Against 105)
MAR Last Five Matches: L W NR W W (Avg Score For 128, Avg Score Against 103)
ROYAL STRIKERS (RST)
Captain: Savio Thomas
Wicketkeeper: Sanish Mani
Projected Top Four: Sebin Thomas, Kushlesh Koppaka, Livin Varghese, Febin Poulose
Projected Opening Bowlers: Rubin James, Jaison Jerome
Spin Options: Sebin Thomas, Jithin Joy, Clinto Paul
ROYAL STRIKERS Key Players:
Livin Varghese, RHB, top scorer for Royal Strikers in 2020 summer league in Malta, will also bowl some medium pacers in the middle overs.
Febin Poulose, hitman of Royal Strikers, can hit big sixes with ease. The right hand batsman will add a lot of value in the RST middle order with his power hitting.
Rubin James, right arm fast bowler, a new ball specialist who will open the bowling for RST. He will be hoping to provide early breakthroughs.
Sebin Thomas is a powerful hitter of the ball, loves taking on the new ball bowlers and will be key in providing brisk starts for his team, picked up two wickets on Monday.
MARSA (MAR)
Captain: Haroon Mughal
Wicketkeeper: John Grima
Projected Top Four: Nowell Khosla, Zeeshan Khan, Fanyan Mughal, Haroon Mughal
Projected Opening Bowlers: Noshair Akhter, Waseem Abbas
Spin Options: Sidharth Anand
MARSA Key Players:
Nowell Khosla, right handed opening batsman, natural strokemaker, second highest run scorer in the previous edition amassing 235 runs including 21 maximos.
Zeeshan Khan, one of the top players for Marsa, is fearless and loves to take on the new ball bowlers, racked up 211 runs in the previous edition.
Fanyan Mughal, right handed batsman, left arm fast bowler, death over specialist, scored 164 runs at an SR of 208 and picked up seven wickets in the previous edition.
Waseem Abbas, national team opening bowler, gets good movement off the seam, joint leading wicket-taker in the last edition with 10 scalps, his height helps extract good bounce off the pitch that troubles batsmen.
Defending champions Marsa enter the fray taking on Royal Strikers on home soil. Marsa boast an array of fiercely competitive and talented cricketers. The home side will be keen to make a fast start against debutants Royal Strikers to stay abreast of AUM and AUK who are already sitting comfortably on two wins each.
Match Prediction: Marsa (MAR) to do the double over newcomers Royal Strikers.
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MATCH 11 (ECS21.446)
ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS (AUK) v AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (AUM)
1100 GMT | 1300 CET | 1630 IST
MATCH 12 (ECS21.447)
ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS (AUK) v AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (AUM)
1330 GMT | 1530 CET | 1900 IST
AUK Last Five Matches: NR W L W W (Avg Score For 94, Avg Score Against 96)
AUM Last Five Matches: L L NR W W (Avg Score For 96, Avg Score Against 79)
ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS (AUK)
Captain: Sujesh Appu
Wicketkeeper: Ajay John
Projected Top Four: Ciril Mathew, Al Ameen Abdul, Justin Shaju, Manoj Salikumar
Projected Opening Bowlers: Sujesh Appu, Justin Shaju
Spin Options: Samuel Stanislaus
ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS Key Players:
Justin Shaju, one to watch with the ball, can swing the ball around at a decent pace, picked up seven wickets in the previous edition with best figures of 3-24. Looked sharp with the ball picking up a wicket and conceding at just over six runs an over also mustered 37 runs with the bat.
Ciril Mathew, right-handed top order batsman who looked at ease with the bat on Monday scoring 38 runs from two games.
Bose Paul, big hitting all-rounder, didn't get to bat much previously but finished as leading wicket taker for AUK with nine scalps from 10 matches, started well with the ball on Monday picking up three wickets.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (AUM)
Captain: Jit Patel
Wicketkeeper: Darshit Patankar
Projected Top Four: Amandeep Ralhan, Saneesh Kumar, Darshit Patankar, Zoheb Malek
Projected Opening Bowlers: Shubh Patel, Jit Patel
Spin Options: Tarak Shah, Zoheb Malek
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA Key Players:
Zoheb Malek impressed with 201 runs at the last edition, scoring nearly three times as many runs as any of his teammates. He also picked up four wickets. The No.4 of AUM looked solid racking up 42 runs from two matches.
Darshit Patankar, the wicket-keeper batsman mustered 55 runs from two games including an unbeaten fifty at a strike rate of 203. Looked in sublime form and is a must have in your fantasy team.
Shubh Patel, the 25-year old fast bowler was leading wicket taker for AUM last season picking up eight wickets from seven matches. Started the season on a high picking up three wickets in the first game.
Saneesh Kumar, a young, talented opening batsman, has the capability to turn things around after an average last season, started off brightly scoring 50 runs from two matches including an unbeaten 41 off 22 balls earning a man of the match award as well.
Both these teams started off their campaign winning back-to-back matches on Monday. AUM showed huge improvement from last year while AUK looked a bit rusty in their first game, barely sneaking past SOC on a Golden Ball finish. That said, AUK are still favourites to clinch this double header considering their performances in the previous edition, when going unbeaten in the group stages.
Last time they met: AUK 68(9.3) def AUM 67 (25 Nov 2020)
Match Prediction: Atlas UTC Knights (AUK) to trump AUM twice.