Abu Dhabi T10 2019 3rd Place Play-Off, Bangla Tigers vs Qalandars: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

Bangla Tigers and Qalandars will play the 3rd Place Play-Off after losing their respective last matches. In fact, Qalandars lost both Qualifier 1 and Qualifier 2 to Maratha Arabians and Deccan Gladiators. Bangla Tigers, on the other hand, lost their Eliminator to Deccan Gladiators and hence these two teams are meeting to play a fairly inconsequential match.

Qalandars fought hard in both of their last two matches before finishing slightly short of their desired report. A Ben Cutting 19-ball 43 was the reason for their downfall in the Qualifier 2 after Gladiators were struggling with 44/5 and later 82/7. They would hope to utilize their opportunities better to finish off on a winning note.

For Bangla Tigers, the bowlers faltered to restrict the Gladiators batsmen after posting a pretty decent 107/3 in the Eliminator. Only Qais Ahmed continued his good form and picked up two wickets but their captain Thisara Perera would hope for better support from other bowlers to grab a win.

The teams finished on the same points and are only separated by Net Run Rate. However, they did not play each other in the group stage of this tournament.

Key Players

George Garton (Qalandars) – Garton did not have a good last match, conceding 33 runs as Cutting hit four sixes in his last over. However, he is the highest wicket-taker of the tournament and the team will look to him to provide key breakthroughs in his two overs.

Rilee Rossouw (Bangla Tigers) – Rossouw is Tigers’ best batsman of the tournament and showed his form with an unbeaten 29-ball 55 in their Eliminator loss. They would expect Rossouw to continue his good form and provide a good start one last time in the tournament.

Likely XIs

Qalandars–  Luke Ronchi (wk), Laurie Evans, Dawid Malan (C), Jordan Clark, Philip Salt, George Garton, Lahiru Kumara, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Sultan Ahmed, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Amjad Gul

Bangla Tigers- Andre Fletcher, Rilee Rossouw, Thisara Perera (C), Robbie Frylinck, Colin Ingram, David Wiese, Chirag Suri, Qais Ahmad, Kevin Koththigoda, Farhad Reza, Shehan Jayasuriya

Prediction

Qalandars to beat Bangla Tigers to finish on 3rd position.