FanCode ECS Malta provides an opportunity for ten leading Maltese teams to showcase their skills on the magnificent island of Malta, contesting 48 games over 12 days. Every game will be live streamed worldwide on the European Cricket Network and on FanCode - a multi-sport aggregator platform, from the house of Dream Sports for the Indian Sub-Continent.
European Cricket Network live broadcasts four T10 matches on Day 8 of the 2021 FanCode ECS Malta on Tuesday 22 June.
The top two meet, while Southern Crusaders will look to keep their winning run going against AUM.
Group A
MAR Marsa (6-0, NRR+2.572)
AUK Atlas UTC Knights (3-1, NRR+0.450)
AUM American University of Malta (3-3, NRR+0.138)
SOC Southern Crusaders (2-4, NRR+0.845)
RST Royal Strikers (0-6, NRR-3.928)
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MATCH 29 (ECS21.464)
MARSA (MAR) v ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS (AUK)
0700 GMT | 0900 CET | 1230 IST
MATCH 30 (ECS21.465)
MARSA (MAR) v ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS (AUK)
0900 GMT | 1100 CET | 1430 IST
MAR Last Five Matches: W W W W W (Avg Score For 107, Avg Score Against 79)
AUK Last Five Matches: L W W L W (Avg Score For 96, Avg Score Against 99)
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. Has had an ordinary tournament with the bat so far scoring just 63 runs in five innings, but is in good form with the ball scalping seven victims at a miserly economy rate of six.
Zeeshan Khan, one of the top players for Marsa, is fearless and loves to take on the new ball bowlers, Top run scorer for Marsa with 172 runs from six matches with 14 LONG maximos.
Niraj Khanna, right-handed middle-order batsman has racked up 119 runs from five innings including a crafty half century and was named man of the match for this effort.
Fanyan Mughal, right-handed batsman, left arm fast bowler, death over specialist, scored 164 runs at a SR of 208 and picked up seven wickets in the previous edition. Has picked up five wickets from six matches this time around.
Waseem Abbas, national team opening bowler, gets good movement off the seam, his height helps extract good bounce off the pitch that troubles batsmen. He was the hero for his side in the opening game of the season hitting 13 runs from three balls to take Marsa over the line. He is also the top wicket taker for Marsa with eight scalps from six matches.
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:
Basil George, powerhouse of AUK, has the ability to smash all around the park, hammered 196 runs at a strike rate of 192 in December 2020. Started off well, scoring 30 off 15 balls in the only game he played on Wednesday.
Samuel Stanislaus, Knights Mr Dependable, leading run-scorer in the previous edition with 339 runs to his name, hammered 26 HUGE maximos, considered the best Knights fielder, top scored for AUK on Monday racking up 57 runs from two games.
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 two wickets and conceding under six runs an over, has also mustered 45 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. Currently top scorer for AUK with 59 runs from four innings.
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, top wicket taker for AUK picking up four scalps in four games.
Reigning champs Marsa showed their class in two processions against a shell-shocked AUM on Monday. Atlas UTC Knights are a step up in class and went unbeaten in the group stages last season before losing the final to Marsa. MAR bowlers in particular were right on the money bowling as many as 54 dot balls in the two matches yesterday and they were equally good with the bat scoring over 60% of their runs in boundaries.
Last time they met: MAR 119 def AUK 84 (4 Dec 2020)
Match Prediction: AUK beat Marsa twice last season in the group stages, but came unstuck in the all-important final. MAR are in commanding form and could remain unbeaten in the group stages with a couple more wins.
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MATCH 31 (ECS21.466)
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (AUM) v SOUTHERN CRUSADERS (SOC)
1100 GMT | 1300 CET | 1630 IST
MATCH 32 (ECS21.467)
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (AUM) v SOUTHERN CRUSADERS (SOC)
1330 GMT | 1530 CET | 1900 IST
AUM Last Five Matches: W W L L L (Avg Score For 80, Avg Score Against 102)
SOC Last Five Matches: L L L W W (Avg Score For 91, Avg Score Against 80)
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: Jit Patel, Mittul 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. Has looked solid racking up 62 runs from five innings and is also top wicket taker with six scalps.
Darshit Patankar, the wicket-keeper batsman has mustered 193 runs from six games including two unbeaten fifties at a strike rate of 174. Darshit has been delivering the heavy scoring for AUM and contributed more than 38% of the team's runs in the first match vs MAR yesterday. He has been in sublime form and is a must have in your fantasy team.
Jit Patel, captain, bowling all-rounder, the left-arm medium pacer brings variety to the AUM bowling line-up. Picked up four wickets last season and racked up 55 runs from four innings. Joint top wicket taker for his side picking up six wickets in six matches this term.
Captain: Michael Goonetilleke
Wicketkeeper: Gopal Thakur
Projected Top Four: Ryan Bastiansz, Michael Goonetilleke, Zeeshan Yousaf, Angelo Delardon
Projected Opening Bowlers: Zeeshan Yousaf, Lakshitha Senavirathna
Spin Options: Jojo Thomas, Ryan Bastiansz, Azwan Kamaleen, Eranga Jayawardhana, Aneel Shahid
SOUTHERN CRUSADERS Key Players:
Zeeshan Yousaf, all-rounder, big hitting opener, moves the ball both ways, picked up eight wickets leading the wicket taking charts and piled up 150 runs in the previous edition, is a good outfielder too. Has played good hands in all the games scoring 59 runs in all but will look to score big in the coming matches.
Ryan Ricky Bastiansz, scores quickly, is good off the back foot, mustered 175 runs including 15 towering sixes in the previous edition. He is currently leading the scoring sheets for SOC racking up 100 runs from five innings. His score of 40 against RST on Monday accounted for more than 49% of the team's total.
Bilal Khan is one of the fastest bowlers in Malta with the ability to move the ball both ways, has been economical with ball getting two prized wickets so far, can also contribute with his pinch hitting abilities, has mustered 48 runs at an impressive SR of 160.
Jojo Thomas, right arm finger spinner, joint leading wicket taker scalping eight wickets in December 2020. Picked up eight wickets in six games this season leading the wicket taking sheets for SOC with a best return of 3-4.
Lakshitha Senavirathna, the right arm medium pacer has picked up seven wickets this season including his best ECS figures of 4-24 against Marsa.
American University of Malta slipped to two heavy defeats on Monday against reigning champions Marsa. AUM were guilty of playing too many dot balls in their innings, especially in the powerplay, and must take advantage of the fielding restrictions to bounce back from three consecutive defeats.
On the other hand, Southern Crusaders finally got off the mark with two good victories. That may be the trend these two sides are heading in. SOC played out just 15 dot balls - almost half of what AUM played. SOC were right on the money with the ball as well, bowling as many as 30 dot balls in their opener against RST yesterday.
Last time they met: SOC 78 def AUM 77 (26 Nov 2020)
Match Prediction: Bearing in mind the above trend and past records, SOC are likely to prevail in this double header - unless AUM show drastic improvement from a miserable Monday in Malta.
