10 top teams from Western Germany feature over 12 days in 48 hotly-anticipated T10 matches from the new home of German cricket in Krefeld. 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 3 of the 2021 FanCode ECS Germany, Krefeld on Wednesday 19 May.
European Cricket Series Frankfurt champions, MSC Frankfurt sit comfortably at the top of Group A standings with three wins from four games, but slipped to defeat to Aachen Rising Stars who made an impressive start to their campaign on Day 2. ARS will look to keep the momentum going against a struggling Bayer Uerdingen Boosters side. BUB did manage to pick up their first win as well against VfB Gelsenkirchen, who have also racked up three wins in four on debut. Winless Koln Challengers look likely to be in for another tough day at the office facing a double-header against the powerhouse MSC Frankfurt.
Group A
MSF MSC Frankfurt (3-1, NRR+3.205)
VG VfB Gelsenkirchen (3-1, NRR+1.685)
ARS Aachen Rising Stars (1-1, NRR+0.121)
BUB Bayer Uerdingen Boosters (1-3, NRR-2.954)
KCH Köln Challengers (0-2, NRR-3.176)
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MATCH 9 (ECS21.348)
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF) v KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
0700 GMT | 0900 CET | 1230 IST
MATCH 10 (ECS21.349)
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF) v KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
0900 GMT | 1100 CET | 1430 IST
MSF Last Five Matches: W W W W L (Avg Score For 120, Avg Score Against 86)
KCH Last Five Matches: L L (Avg Score For 53, Avg Score Against 85)
MSC FRANKFURT (MSF)
Captain: Sekandar Khan
Wicketkeeper: Habib Rahman
Projected Top Four: Adel Khan, Shahid Afridi, Sekandar Khan, Nafees Buttar
Projected Opening Bowlers: Waheed Ahmed, Shahid Afridi
Spin Options: Adel Khan, Nafees Buttar
MSC FRANKFURT Key Players:
Shahid Afridi, hard hitting opening batsman, is leading the run scoring charts so far with 95 runs from four matches, scored a blistering 10-ball 41* on Tuesday to take his side to victory, has bagged two man of the match awards as well so far.
Adel Khan, second highest run scorer with 87 runs to his name. Racked up an unbeaten 63 off 32 balls in the first match, has also picked up five wickets.
Nafees Buttar, left-arm off-spinner, very accurate with his line and length, has scalped four wickets from four matches at an economy rate of just 6.75, returned impressive figures of 3-6 in the second match.
Qader Khan has been impressive with the ball picking up four wickets so far at an economy rate of 7.20 and best return of 3-16.
KÖLN CHALLENGERS (KCH)
Captain: Kesava Motati
Wicketkeeper: Vijay Rathnavel
Projected Top Four: Amey Potale, Sriram Gurumurthy, Ayush Sharma, Rohit Narayanan
Projected Opening Bowlers: Kesava Motati, Aravind Muthusubramanian
Spin Options: Sriram Gurumurthy
KÖLN CHALLENGERS Key Players:
Amey Potale, destructive opening batsman, loves anything short and can dispatch it with disdain, looked good in both games before throwing away his starts, would like to get a big one against the powerhouse MSF.
Sriram Gurumurthy, considered an elegant slogger by his teammates, he will have the responsibility of providing KCH with quick starts, has picked up two wickets from two matches conceding at just 3.50 rpo.
Kesava Motati, captain, will lead the bowling attack, has the ability to swing the ball both ways.
Aravind Muthusubramanian, good consistent bowler who has the canny knack of picking up wickets, scalped two wickets from two games on Monday
MSC Frankfurt, European Cricket Series Frankfurt champions, are the only side featuring at the FanCode ECS Germany Krefeld to boast any previous ECS experience. So far, MSF have lived up to their heavyweight billing with three dominant wins from four games and are the team to beat in Group A.
Koln Challengers got off to a sluggish start with two losses to fellow newcomers VG and will find it hard to compete against one of the genuine powerhouses of German cricket.
Match Prediction: MSC Frankfurt (MSF) to win both games at a canter.
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MATCH 11 (ECS21.350)
AACHEN RISING STARS (ARS) v BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB)
1100 GMT | 1300 CET | 1630 IST
MATCH 12 (ECS21.351)
AACHEN RISING STARS (ARS) v BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB)
1300 GMT | 1500 CET | 1830 IST
ARS Last Five Matches: L W (Avg Score For 96, Avg Score Against 112)
BUB Last Five Matches: L L L W (Avg Score For 70, Avg Score Against 100)
AACHEN RISING STARS (ARS)
Captain: Varun Reddy
Wicketkeeper: Sagar Kataria
Projected Top Four: Varun Reddy, Sagar Kataria, Faheem Jan, Gulistan Muhammad
Projected Opening Bowlers: Ahmad Shirzad, Faheem Jan
Spin Options: Varun Reddy, Dhaval Goyani, Asif Rauf
AACHEN RISING STARS Key Players:
Sagar Kataria, classy batsman, very consistent, leading run scorer for the club last year, loves playing spin and reverse sweeps well.
Faheem Jan, all-rounder, can swing the ball both ways and hit a long ball when needed, mustered an unbeaten 35 in the second game to take his side home.
Ahmad Shirzad, left-arm fast bowler with the ability to swing the ball both ways, can clock very high speeds when in good rhythm, leads the ARS bowling attack picking up two wickets at a frugal economy rate of just 5.33.
Varun Reddy, captain, will open the innings for his side, a good timer of the ball and bowls some tidy off-spin, top scorer for ARS after two games with 56 runs to his name.
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS (BUB)
Captain: Kumar Mahendran
Wicketkeeper: Ahilan Ravinthran
Projected Top Four: Kumar Mahendran, Aritharan Vaseekaran, Ahilan Ravinthran, Thinesh Rajakulasingam
Projected Opening Bowlers: Pakeetharan Praba, Gobinath Navarathinam
Spin Options: Kumar Mahendran, Stebin Stephen
BAYER UERDINGEN BOOSTERS Key Players:
Kumar Mahendran, former Germany international, will be looking to lead by example with bat and ball, leading wicket taker in club history, scalped four wickets from four games.
Aritharan Vaseekaran, another former Germany international who will look to get the Boosters off to a quick start, has racked up 86 runs from four games including nine maximos and a man of the match performance - 13-ball 33*.
Ahilan Ravinthran, looked the pick of all BUB batsmen scoring a quickfire 19 off 11 balls in the first game, he would love to stay longer at the crease and showcase his talent on the grand European Cricket stage.
Pakeetharan Praba, leads the bowling attack for Boosters, looked in good form picking up three wickets including a best return of 2-18 vs MSF in the second match on Monday.
Newcomers Bayer Uerdingen Boosters twice came off second best against MSC Frankfurt, which was to be expected, but grabbed their first win with a tense run chase against VfB Gelsenkirchen.
Aachen Rising Stars impressed on debut, sharing a win a piece with mighty MSC Frankfurt. On that form, ARS will be strong favourites against the Boosters.
Match Prediction: Aachen Rising Stars (ARS) to deflate the Boosters with two victories.
