Our final event of another action-packed year, FanCode ECS Malta Encore provides an opportunity for ten leading Maltese teams to showcase their skills on the magnificent island of Malta, contesting 47 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 7 of the 2021 FanCode ECS Malta Encore on Monday 29 November.
An interesting day lies in store in Malta with Gozo entering the fray against AUK while Marsa look to find their mojo against AUM.
Group B
AUM American University of Malta (2-0, NRR+6.700)
AUK Atlas UTC Knights (1-0-1, NRR+1.500)
MAR Marsa (0-1-1, NRR-1.500)
GOZ Gozo (0-0, NRR+0.000)
RST Royal Strikers (0-2, NRR-6.700)
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MATCH 25 (ECS21.900)
GOZO (GOZ) v ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS (AUK)
0730 GMT | 0830 CET | 1300 IST
MATCH 26 (ECS21.901)
GOZO (GOZ) v ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS (AUK)
0930 GMT | 1030 CET | 1500 IST
GOZ Last Five Matches: W L LL L(Avg Score For 66, Avg Score Against 96)
AUK Last Five Matches: W L W NR W (Avg Score For 80, Avg Score Against 68)
Official Betting Partner of the ECN Bet nowGOZO (GOZ)
Captain: Jerin Jacob
Wicketkeeper: Senthil Raj
Projected Top Four: Joshby Job, Indika Perera, Milton Devasia, Aji Wilson
Projected Opening Bowlers: Rishal Simon, Rafeeque Mohammed
Spin Options: Milton Devasia, Ajeesh Antony
GOZO Key Players:
Milton Devasia, all-rounder, top scorer for Gozo in the previous edition scoring 98 runs in eight matches. He is also a decent spinner capable of deceiving batsmen, picked up FOUR wickets.
Sandeep Sasikumar, the right arm fast bowler was the most impressive GOZ bowler in June earlier this year. First Gozo player to win a man of the match award on the grand stage of European Cricket, led the wicket taking charts for Gozo with EIGHT scalps. He also scored 57 runs.
Senthil Raj, the all-rounder, second highest scorer for Gozo back in June earlier this year racking up 90 runs in six games and picked up THREE wickets as well.
ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS (AUK)
Captain: Sujesh Appu
Wicketkeeper: Avinash Dileep
Projected Top Four: Samuel Stanislaus, Manoj Panicker, Basil George, Avinash Dileep
Projected Opening Bowlers: Asif Sha, Justin Shaju
Spin Options: Samuel Stanislaus
ATLAS UTC KNIGHTS Key Players:
Basil George, star all-rounder, powerhouse of AUK with the bat, has the ability to smash all around the park. Scored 22 off 13 balls and picked up a wicket vs MAR.
Samuel Stanislaus, Knight's Mr Dependable, has been the leading run scorer for AUK in both the previous ECS editions. He can also roll his arm when needed. Scored an unbeaten 37 vs MAR on Saturday.
Sujesh Appu, the AUK skipper led from the front scalping most wickets for his side in the FanCode ECS Malta 2021. Scalped a couple of wickets vs MAR on Saturday.
Justin Shaju, another valuable all-rounder, can swing the ball around at a decent pace and score handy runs down the order.
Atlas UTC Knights started off with a comfortable win against Marsa and will be confident of going into the double header against a not so strong GOZ side. Gozo struggled throughout the tournament last season racking up a series of unwanted records in the process. GOZ will be determined for a better showing this time around.
Match Prediction: Atlas UTC Knights (AUK) to win both games at a canter.
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MATCH 27 (ECS21.902)
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (AUM) v MARSA (MAR)
1130 GMT | 1230 CET | 1700 IST
MATCH 28 (ECS21.903)
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (AUM) v MARSA (MAR)
1330 GMT | 1430 CET | 1900 IST
AUM Last Five Matches: L WL W W(Avg Score For 102, Avg Score Against 79)
MAR Last Five Matches: L L L NR L (Avg Score For 80, Avg Score Against 91)
Official Betting Partner of the ECN Bet nowAMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA (AUM)
Captain: Jit Patel
Wicketkeeper: Darshit Patankar
Projected Top Four: Darshit Patankar, Bikram Arora, Varun Prasath, Abhishek Prajapati
Projected Opening Bowlers: Jit Patel, Varun Prasath
Spin Options: Zoheb Malek, Abhishek Kuntala, Darshnik Gohil
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF MALTA Key Players:
Zoheb Malek, the all-rounder ended as the leading wicket taker for AUM earlier in the year scalping EIGHT wickets in nine matches. He also racked up 102 runs. Returned figures of 2-1 vs RST on Saturday.
Darshit Patankar, the wicket-keeper batter mustered 224 runs in nine games at a strike rate of 166 including two unbeaten fifties. He ended up as the second highest run scorer in the FanCode ECS Malta 2021. Scored 59 runs on Saturday.
Varun Prasath, the left-hander featured for the victorious Super Kings at FanCode ECS Malta 2021. He finished as the leading run scorer in the tournament, plundering 351 runs in 10 innings with 33 long sixes. Picked up FOUR wickets and scored 27 runs on Saturday.
Bikram Arora, Malta national team captain, another Super Kings player, the right hander racked up 216 runs in nine games in the previous edition finishing as the third highest scorer in the tournament. Top scorer for AUM scoring 87 runs in two games on Saturday.
Darshnik Gohil, left arm off-spinner, top wicket taker for AUM on Saturday scalping FIVE wickets in two games including a player of the match effort of 4-7.
MARSA (MAR)
Captain: Haroon Mughal
Wicketkeeper: John Grima
Projected Top Four: Fanyan Mughal, Zeeshan Khan, Niraj Khanna, Gurjeet Singh
Projected Opening Bowlers: Fazil Khan, Waseem Abbas
Spin Options: Sidharth Anand
MARSA Key Players:
Nowell Khosla, a handy all-rounder, is a natural strokemaker with the bat and a quality spin bowler. He picked up SEVEN wickets and scored 120 runs in the previous edition.
Zeeshan Khan, one of the top players for Marsa, is fearless and loves to take on the new ball bowlers, was top run scorer for Marsa in the previous edition with 206 runs from nine matches with 15 LONG maximos.
Niraj Khanna, right-handed batter, second highest scorer for MAR racking up 176 runs in eight innings including a crafty half century and was named man of the match for this effort.
Waseem Abbas, national team opening bowler, gets good movement off the seam, his height helps extract good bounce off the pitch that troubles batsmen. Top wicket taker for Marsa at FanCode ECS Malta 2021 with 11 scalps from nine matches, can also give it a whack with bat in hand.
American University of Malta started off in style winning both their games by big margins vs RST. AUM will be keen to carry on the momentum against Marsa. On the other hand, Marsa are without a win in their last five ECS games. Infact, their last win came against AUM back in June earlier this year when MAR won the double header. Will MAR get back to winning ways versus AUM?
Last time they met: ECS21.461 | MAR 65(8.2) def AUM 61 (21 Jun 2021)
Match Prediction: American University of Malta (AUM) to win a couple of entertaining affairs.
