The ongoing 02 edition of the FairBreak Invitational is quickly moving towards its business end and match no. 12 will see Sapphires play Falcons at the Kowloon Cricket Club at 7:30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST). Two when played against each other in the previous inaugural edition the Falcons claimed the win by 30 runs and will look to extend the lead over Sapphires.
In the competition thus far, both Sapphires and Falcons off their 3 games have only had a win, while they’ve lost a couple each. The team that wins this contest will stay alive in the race to playoffs qualification but importantly will strengthen its position on the points table as the two have got a game each to be played.
Squads:
Sapphires
Sana Mir (C), Jivana Aras, Erin Burns, Kary Chan, Aditi Chudasama, Babette de Leede, Tash Farrant, Shabnim Ismail, Sibona Jimmy, Geetika Kodali, Gaby Lewis, Katie Mack, Maryam Omar, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Pull To
Falcons
Suzie Bates (C), Jahanara Alam, Kaia Arua, Chamari Athapaththu, Mas Elysa, Christina Gough, Anju Gurung, Mariko Hill, Marizanne Kapp, Nannapat Koncharoenkai, Marina Lamplough, Theertha Satish, Gunjan Shukla, Sornnarin Tippoch, Danni Wyatt
Players to watch out for:
Katie Mack
The 29-year-old Australian has got good experience under her belt having played domestic cricket in both Australia and England. Katie got her campaign underway with a fine 21 but couldn’t follow it up with another good score just yet and should look to finish on a high with a few good outings.
Tash Farrant
The 26-year-old English pacer in 18 Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) has bagged 15 wickets at an economy rate of 6.26. While Tash the bowler has registered good figures of 0/10, 0/25, and 3/11, Tash the batter too has lit the show with scores of 12* and 36*.
Mariko Hill
The Hong Kong local, in national colours, has scored 623 runs and has struck 21 scalps in 33 T20Is. Mariko got her campaign underway against Tornadoes with 38 runs and figures of 0/14 and in the following game, against Warriors while she was dismissed on duck, did well with the ball as she registered figures of 3/11.
Marizanne Kapp
The 33-year-old South African all-rounder in 94 T20Is has scored 1178 runs and has bagged 76 wickets. Kapp the all-rounder has looked nowhere near good in the tournament as she’s got telephone digit (0,0,4) scores but has been good with the ball, and has got a good habit of stepping up on crunch occasions, and a few such await her over the next few days.
Pitch:
The 22 yards at the Kowloon Cricket Club are lively yet well-balanced this time around as the tracks have got it all; runs for batters, and assistance for both pacers and spinners. Though the average score is just around 130, the overall quality of cricket has been good with a few high-scoring games and many low-scoring thrillers.
Weather:
With the temperature expected to hover around 25°C and no chance of rain, we are in for a complete game of cricket. It will be a partly cloudy overhead, light winds are expected and the humidity is forecasted at 80%.
Fantasy playing XI:
Theertha Satish, Babette de Leede, Chamari Athapaththu, Danni Wyatt, Katherine Sciver-Brunt, Marizanne Kapp, Suzie Bates, Mariko Hill, Shabnim Ismail, Tash Farrant, Geetika Kodali
Match details:
Date – 11th April 2023
Time – 7:30 AM IST
Venue – Kowloon Cricket Club
Broadcast – In India, the tournament will be telecasted on Sony Sports and will be live-streamed on the FanCode app and website.