MAR Last Five Matches: W W W W W (Avg Score For 107, Avg Score Against 87)
AUM Last Five Matches: NR W W W L (Avg Score For 100, Avg Score Against 80)
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 47 runs in four innings, but is top wicket taker for MAR scalping four victims at a miserly economy rate of FOUR.
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. Top run scorer for Marsa with 139 runs from four matches with 11 LONG maximos.
Niraj Khanna, right-handed middle-order batsman has racked up 103 runs in the four games 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 three wickets from four matches this time around.
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. 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.
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. Has looked solid racking up 62 runs from three innings and is also top wicket taker with four scalps.
Darshit Patankar, the wicket-keeper batsman has mustered 147 runs from four games including two unbeaten fifties at a strike rate of 191. Has been 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.
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 four wickets in four matches this term.
Saneesh Kumar, talented young opener with the ability to turn things around after an average last season. Started off brightly scoring 53 runs from three matches including an unbeaten 41 off 22 balls earning a man of the match award as well.
Reigning champions Marsa have come out on top in some narrow finishes and will be pushed to the limit to keep their unbeaten record intact against much-improved AUM.
Last time they met: Match abandoned without a ball being bowled.
Match Prediction: Marsa to win in an entertaining affair.