Madrid United make a belated entry into the Dream11 European Cricket Series Alicante against an Intellectuals side potentially staring a fourth defeat in a row in the face. The capital city side performed capably in a January T10 regional tournament held at the same ground, finishing behind the dominant Sporting Alfas as runners-up. Therefore, Madrid will be expected to hand the Intellectuals another tough T10 cricketing lesson.
Madrid United make a belated entry into the Dream11 European Cricket Series Alicante against an Intellectuals side potentially staring a fourth defeat in a row in the face. The capital city side performed capably in a January T10 regional tournament held at the same ground, finishing behind the dominant Sporting Alfas as runners-up. Therefore, Madrid will be expected to hand the Intellectuals another tough T10 cricketing lesson.
Founded in 1997 in Alicante, The Intellectuals were second division champions in the ECCL (East Coast and Central League) over the longer 40 overs format last season and in reality, the lowest ranked side in the Dream11 European Cricket Series Alicante. Following a series of heavy defeats, the Intellectuals are sadly far from enjoying this first venture into the high-octane world of T10 cricket either. That said, Hassan Askari was the pick of the Intellectuals bowlers on the opening day, including an impressive spell of 3-8 off two overs against the Pinatar Pirates. Batting wise, the Intellectuals never really clicked as a unit, posting a couple of pedestrian scores when haplessly trying to chase down imposing 100+ targets. Opener Ismail Baig did contribute well with the bat with a top score of 47, while all-rounders Umair Akram and Usman Baig are both capable of finding the boundary with ease – when they manage to stay in for an extended period. That’s the problem though.
Therefore, a potentially demoralised Intellectuals outfit face an unenviable task against a fresh and motivated side from the capital in Madrid United, who are yet to play a game. With uncertainty regarding the availability of Spanish international Tauqeer Hussain, it may pay to watch out for Madrid spinner Kashif Rana who impressed with his wily bowling in the January warm-up tournament, while the likes of Abdul Hafeez Niazi and Ahsan Yaqoob, are both matchwinners with bat & ball on their day.
