Valletta Cup 2021 Match 1, Malta vs Gibraltar: Probable XI, match prediction, live streaming, weather forecast and pitch report

The Malta cricket team (Image Courtesy: Malta Cricket Association)

The Valletta Cup 2021 kicks off on October 21. Malta, Gibraltar, Bulgaria and Switzerland will compete in the tournament with each side facing the other once. The top two teams will compete in the final scheduled to be played on October 24.

The first game will see Malta locking horns with Gibraltar at the Marsa Sports Club. Both these sides competed in the recently-concluded Continental Cup. Malta finished in fourth place whereas Gibraltar failed to qualify for the semi-finals. The two sides have met twice in the competition, with Malta coming out on top on both occasions.

We saw a high-scoring game last time these two sides met. After being asked to bat first, Malta posted a mammoth total on the board. On the back of Varun Thamotharam’s century and skipper Bikram Arora’s fifty, Malta scored 197.

The Gibraltar batters didn’t back down as they tried their level best but fell just short. Chris Delany smashed 69 but the Malta players managed to hold their nerves in the end to win the game by four runs. The opening game of the Valletta Cup promises to be a cracker of a contest.

Malta vs Gibraltar Match Details:

Match: Malta vs Gibraltar, Match 1, The Valletta Cup 2021

Date and Time: October 21st 2021, Thursday, 05:30 PM IST

Venue: Marsa Sports Club, Marsa, Malta

Malta vs Gibraltar Pitch Report

The pitch at Marsa Sports Club is good for batting. The ball comes nicely onto the bat and the batters can play their strokes freely. The surface will stay true throughout the course of the match.

Malta vs Gibraltar Weather Forecast

Clear skies will greet the two sides on Thursday. Temperatures are expected to hover between 19 and 24 degrees Celsius. There is no chance of rain and the Valletta Cup can be expected to get underway on time.

Malta vs Gibraltar Probable XIs

Malta

Probable XI

Bikram Arora (c), Zeeshan Khan, Samuel Stanislaus, Gopal Chaturvedi, Varun Thamotharam, Haroon Mughal, Amar Sharma, Bilal Muhammad, Waseem Abbas, Justin Shaju, Samuel Aquilina (wk)

Gibraltar

Probable XI

Kenroy Nestor, Louis Bruce, Chris Delany, James Fitzgerald, Balaji Pai (c), Richard Hatchman, Nikhil Advani, Joseph Marples (wk), Richard Cunningham, Joe Wilson, Andrew Reyes

Malta vs Gibraltar Match Prediction

Malta have been performing consistently in recent times and have also defeated Gibraltar in their last two meetings. Gibraltar need to be on their toes while facing Malta on Thursday.

Malta look a well-settled unit and it won’t be a surprise if they kickstart their tournament with a win over Gibraltar on the opening day of the competition.