Bulgaria and Malta will face each other in Match No. 5 of the Continental Cup on Friday, September 3 at the Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground in Ilfov County.
Bulgaria didn’t make a great start to the ongoing edition of the Continental Cup. The team, led by Prakash Mishra, lost to Luxembourg by 62 runs on Thursday. After electing to field first, Bulgaria restricted their opponents to 187 for the loss of four wickets.
Mukul Kadyan was the standout bowler as he picked up two wickets for 34 runs. In the run-chase, opener Kevin D’Souza started with a 19-ball 31, but Bulgaria kept losing wickets at regular intervals before being bowled out for 125 runs in 18.4 overs.
Malta, on the other hand, had a rough start as well. On Thursday, Luxembourg beat them by four wickets with two balls left. After being put in to bat first, Malta scored 128 for nine in 20 overs.
Defending the short score, Malta got wickets at regular intervals, but Tony Whiteman’s unbeaten 57 robbed them of a victory. Bilal Muhammad and Amar Sharma picked up two wickets each.
Match Details
Match: Bulgaria and Malta, Match 5
Date: September 3, 2021 (Friday).
Time: 03:00 PM (IST).
Venue: Moara Vlasiei Cricket Ground, Ilfov County.
Weather Report
Conditions will be sunny throughout the duration of the encounter. There is no chance of rain whatsoever. The temperature will be around the 23-degree Celsius mark.
Pitch Report
The pitch in the tournament has been a sporting one thus far. However, in all three games thus far, the chasing teams have had to struggle. Therefore, sides may opt to bat first to start with.
Predicted Playing XIs
Bulgaria
Mukul Kadyan was arguably Bulgaria’s standout player in their first game. Not only did he score runs, but also picked up two important wickets. Aravinda de Silva also got into the 20s and he’ll want to get some runs under his belt. The likes of Hristo Lakov and others need to perform as well.
Predicted XI: Prakash Mishra (C), Kevin D’Souza, Hristo Lakov, Aravinda de Silva, Omar Rasool (wk), Vasil Hristov, Atagul Ahmadhel, Dimo Nikolov, Mukul Kadyan, Jacob Albin, Delrick Varghese
Malta
Samuel Stanislaus and Varun Thamotharam got starts in the previous game and showed a lot of promise. Skipper Sharma and Bilal Muhammad also looked good, with Waseem Abbas being pretty much on the mark. Others have to lend the in-form players some support.
Predicted XI: Basil George, Zeeshan Khan, Samuel Stanislaus, Varun Thamotharam, Niraj Khanna, Haroon Mughal, Bilal Muhammad, Amar Sharma (C), Waseem Abbas, Sam Aqualina (wk), Suhrid Roy
Match Prediction
Malta have a strong bowling unit and Bulgaria's batters may not find the going easy against them. Malta should be able to win the upcoming encounter.
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