Empire CC Lions vs Greater Helsinki CC, Finnish Premier League?
Empire CC Lions take on Greater Helsinki CC in the seventh match of the 2020 Finnish T20 Premier League. Last year’s runners-up are looking to make it back-to-back wins at the start of this season’s competition and the match takes place on June 9. Played at Kerava National Cricket Ground, the live action is scheduled to start at 16:00 local time.
Empire beat newly-promoted Bengal Tigers CC Thundercats in their opening game. The Lions batted first but only managed 111/8 with Jonathan Scamans top-scoring on 38. Mahesh Tambe led the bowling charge with 3-19 as they claimed a ten-run win, however.
Newly-promoted Greater Helsinki CC, on the other hand, became the first team to bat first and lose this season. The back-to-back second-tier champions posted 132/6 against SKK, with Ziaur Rehman scoring 55* from 48 balls at the top of the order, but wayward bowling proved costly in reply. Naveed Shahid claimed 3-16, but a team total of 16 wides and five penalty points proved damaging. SKK reached 104/4 in 13.3 overs to win on the DLS method.
Empire CC vs Greater Helsinki CC Live streaming
Live streaming: European Cricket Network
Toss Prediction
Greater Helsinki are the only team to have batted first and lost so far, but both teams may be keen to set a target this time anyway.
Weather Report
After a couple of damp days, conditions should be no more than overcast for this one before the weather improves for the rest of the week.
Pitch Condition
Run rates have generally been on the lower side and wickets have fallen more regularly so far in this tournament.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for Empire CC Lions vs Greater Helsinki CC, Finnish Premier League.
Empire Cricket Club Team News & Playing 11
ECC Team News
An excellent team bowling effort won the game for Empire CC last time out and it seems unlikely they will be making big changes so early on.
ECC Key Players
Amjad Sher: Opened the bowling and set the tone well as he claimed a wicket in the first over and finished on 1-16. He was a key all-rounder last season too.
Vaanraj Padhaal: Out cheap last time out but his 506 runs last season highlight exactly what he offers Empire CC at the top of the order.
Mahesh Tambe: Wickets in the final last year and he picked up where he left off in this season’s first Empire CC match – claiming 3-19 from his four overs.
ECC Team Form
After defeat to Helsinki CC in last year’s final, Empire CC Lions started this year’s tournament by beating BTCC Thundercats. They scored just 111/8 from their 20 overs, but Mahesh Tambe’s 3-19 helped them claim a ten-run win.
Empire Cricket Club Predicted Playing 11
Vaanraj Padhaal, Zeerak Ijaz, Muhammad Imran, Amjad Sher (c), Richard Savage, Jonathan Scamans (wk), Mahesh Tambe, Raaz Mohammad, Abdul Ghafar, Shoaib Qureshi, Kushagra Bhatnagar
Greater Helsinki CC Team News & Playing 11
GHC Team News
If there are any changes this time out, it may be in the bowling department after wayward bowling proved costly in their opening game.
GHC Key Players
Ziaur Rehman: Last season’s top run scorer opened the tournament with 55* from 48 balls at the top of the order, including a six and two fours.
Naveed Shahid: Claimed figures of 3-16 last time out to initially put Greater Helsinki in a great position with the ball.
Ghulfam Nazir: Injected some pace in the middle order in a useful partnership with Rehman as he clobbered 30 from 20 balls.
GHC Team Form
Greater Helsinki were well-placed at the halfway stage last time out, having scored 132/6 thanks to Ziaur Rehman’s unbeaten half-century. When Naveed Shahid (3-16) restricted SKK to 30/4 from 3.3 overs in reply they were well on top, but they took no further wickets and SKK won on the DLS method as they reached 104/4 in 13.3 overs.
Greater Helsinki CC Predicted Playing 11
Ziaur Rehman, Sohail Amin, Asad Ijaz, Choudhary Shahzad Shabbir (c), Ghulfam Nazir, Abdullah Attique (wk), Naveed Shahid, Adnan Ahmed, Iatazaaz Hussain, Kashif Muhammad, Ronald Peter
Empire Cricket Club vs Greater Helsinki CC Head to Head
As with Empire CC Lions’ first opponents this season, Greater Helsinki CC were not in the top flight last season. They won the Division 1 competition in each of the last two seasons, however.
Empire Cricket Club vs Greater Helsinki CC Betting Odds
Empire CC Lions are big favourites to win at 1.50 with Bet365 and with Betway.
Greater Helsinki CC can be backed at 2.62 to win with Bet365, while Betway are offering 2.50 on the newly-promoted side claiming a first FPL win.
🏆 Empire Cricket Club vs Greater Helsinki CC Prediction
Empire CC Lions opened with a win against one newly-promoted team and are favourites to follow that up by beating the other newcomers.
Jun 09, 2020
20:30 IST / 15:00 GMT
Kerava National Cricket Ground - Kerava, Finland
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