Marsons facing the giants in the second semifinal
Big Picture There is a similarity between first and the second semifinal of the Volcano T20 Cup. The table-toppers of both the groups are facing the second-ranked teams of each other’s group. The toppers destroyed everyone on their way while the second-ranked teams have been okay apart from losing a game against the toppers. The setup is so similar that the preview of the first semifinal can be simply copied and pasted back here with changed names of the teams. The second semifinal will be contested between Independent Cricket Club and Marsons United. Independent Cricket Club topped the tables in the Group A while Marsons were ranked second after losing their game against Hunterz. The journey of Independent CC was pretty much similar to that of Hunterz. They were the only second team after the Hunterz to touch the magical figure of 300 in an inning. During the game against Abu Dhabi Cricket Club, they gunned down 322 in 20 overs and then destroyed the opposition for 116, beating them by 206 runs. They had easy victories against AL-Fahim, ADCL Yellows, and Mina Cricket Club and at no point throughout the league phase, it looked like that they are being challenged. On the other hand, Marsons United had a shaky start to their campaign against the Hunterz but they left the disappointment behind and gunned down two scores of over 200 in two of their next three games. They trounced Ultimate sports academy by 189 runs and then registered a couple of comfortable victories against ADCL Green and the Strikers-AD. Players to watch out for Shakeer Hydru- Shakeer is ranked second in the race of MVP. He is ranked second on the batting charts too. Just 10 runs behind Ahsan, Shakeer has registered the highest individual score of the tournament against Abu Dhabi Cricket Warriors. Apart from his 141 against the Warriors, he played useful innings in all the other three games and finished the league phase with 275 runs at an average of 68.75 and a strike rate of 189.66 Mansoor- Ranked third on the MVP, Mansoor entertained everyone with both bat and the ball. He finished the league phase of the tournament with 137 runs in three innings at an average of 68.50. His strike rate of 185 is evidence of his power hitting and if that’s not enough, he finished fourth on the bowling charts too. 7 wickets at an average of 10.57 shows the kind of a role he played in the domination of Independent CC. Marsons have to find a way to stop him in the semifinals to have a chance. Ground, Pitch & Conditions The second semifinal will be played on the same ground as the rest of the tournament. The only change might take place are the strips. The weather once again is going to be fine with the highest temperature of 30 C and plenty of sunshine Form Marsons United: W, W, W, L Independent CC: W, W, W, W
Uphill task for AL-Fahim to take down favorites White Hunterz
Big Picture
AL-Fahim who lost their final game against the Independent CC in the league stage after a decent campaign might not be sleeping without some stress. Why so? The team that had a magnificent campaign throughout the league phase if you exclude there performance against the invincible must fight out their skins if they are to make it to the finals. They are up against another team who has found the tag of ‘Invincible’ through the league phase, except for the fact that they were in a different group.
Statically, Hunterz are the best team after the conclusion of the league phase. They didn’t just finish the league phase on the top of Group B, they did it with some authority. Their net run rate is close to 6 which is by far the best among both the groups. From destroying Strikers by 185 runs to trouncing ADCL Green by 10 wickets with over 12 overs in the bag, they were ruthless throughout the campaign. Not a single team could compete in front of them, even for a minute.
The group of AL-Fahim must be disappointed by their outing against the Independent CC in their last league game but they need to lift their spirits before they face the raging bull. Stats show that AL-Fahim are capable of stopping the storm but for that, they need to bring out their A-game on 12th of November. They have to do something like what they did against Mina Cricket Club in their first game of the tournament.
Players to watch out for
Ahsan Riaz- Leading the MVP table, Ahsan has torn apart the bowling lineups throughout the tournament. He is leading the batting chart at the end of the league phase with 285 runs in just 4 innings. His runs came at a strike rate of 229.84 and that is a matter of worry for AL-Fahim. However, those who are following the tournament must be looking for some more explosions from the bat of Ahsan. His average of 92 is evidence of his consistency and the chance of him disappointing his fans is not too high.
Surjith- The bowling chart is being led by another Hunter at the end of the Group stage. With 10 wickets in 4 innings, Surjith is leading the charts in the bowling department. His wickets came at an average of just 9 and a strike rate of 9.60. Batsmen found it a nightmare to get runs of him and his economy rate of 5.62 is evidence for the same. Again, if AL- Fahim are batting first, they need to figure out a way to get some runs of Surjith while protecting their wickets.
Ground, Pitch & Conditions
The Volcano Cricket Ground has produced mixed results so far with batsmen and slower bowlers dominating the scenes most of the times. The tournament saw scores in excess of 300 a couple of times while teams were bundled out for less than 100 too. The weather forecast for the day is a highest temperature of 31 C with plenty of sunshine.
Form
White Hunterz: W, W, W, W
AL-Fahim: L, W, W, W
