Iberia Cup, 2019: Match 1, Spain vs Portugal: Dream11 Fantasy Cricket Tips – Playing XI, Pitch Report & Injury Update

Match Details:

The 1st game of the Iberia Cup 2019 will be played between Spain and Portugal at La Manga Club Bottom Ground.

The match starts at 3:00 PM local time (1:00 PM GMT) (6:30 PM IST).

This series can be viewed on the Fancode app in India and European Cricket Network channel on YouTube.

Preview:

The 2019 Iberia Cup set to begin on Friday with the home team Spain facing Portugal in the opening match at the La Manga Club ground. The Tri-series will be played across three days with Gibraltar included as the 3rd team. Thus far, the hosts Spain are the only team among the three sides to have an experience of playing a T20I game. Spain hosted Malta in a 3-match series in March.

They won the series 2-0 as the 3rd game was an abonnement. Later in August, Spain toured Finland where they won the series by 2-1 margin. Finland took 1-0 lead in the series with a huge 82-run win but Spain came back sharply to take away the series. On the other hand, the Portugal team won only one of the five matches in the last year’s T20 CWC Europe Region Qualifier A.

Weather Condition/Report:

The Iberia Cup is expected to be welcomed by pleasant weather in La Manga. No rain is predicted in the weather forecast and a full game is expected to be seen on Friday.

Pitch Condition/Report:

Spain were involved in two completed T20I at this venue against Malta. In the first of the two games, the hosts comfortably won while chasing a target of 99. In the game played on the very next day, Spain registered a huge win after posting a big total. We might see pitches with average totals of 160 in this tournament.

Average first innings score: 152 (T20I matches)

Record of chasing teams: Won – 1, Lost – 1

Team News:

Tariq Aziz’s name is listed 2nd in Portugal’s team sheet as a coach. It is unsure if he will play or remain as support staff.

Probable Playing XIs:

Spain:

Faran Afzal (WK), Awais Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Zulqarnain Haider, Paul Hennessy, Ravi Panchal, Christian Muñoz Mills (C), Kuldeep Lal, Atif Mehmood, Tauqeer Hussain, Tom Vine.

Bench – Raja Adeel, Rhys Morgan, Nadim Hussain, Jack Perman, Vinod Kumar, Mucktair Singh.

Portugal:

Paulo Buccimazza (C), Arslan Ahmed, Mian Mehmood, Syed Ali Naqi, Zohaib Sarwar, Francoise Stoman (WK), Md Fakhrul Hussain, Imran Khan, Assad Mehmood, Najjam Shahzad, Sukhwinder Singh.

Bench – Davinder Singh, M Sajjad Yousef, Amer Ikram.

Top Picks:

Paul Hennessy took seven wickets in T20Is at a strike rate of 8.5 and also scored 89 runs from 3 innings. Ravi Panchal has scored 143 runs from four T20I innings with a half-century and claimed six wickets from 5 T20Is. Portugal skipper Paulo Buccimazza has scored 85 runs at an average of 21.25 and bagged six wickets at 20.83 across all formats for his country.

Captain and Vice-Captain Selection:

Captain Options – Ravi Panchal, Paul Hennessy, Paulo Buccimazza, Arslan Ahmed

Vice-Captain Options – Yasir Ali, Awais Ahmed, Syed Ali Naqi, Zohaib Sarwar

Suggested Playing XI No.1 for Fantasy Cricket:

Keeper – Francoise Stoman

Batters – Arslan Ahmed, Yasir Ali, Karan Lal, Zohaib Sarwar

All-Rounders – Paul Hennessy, Ravi Panchal (C), Paulo Buccimazza (VC)

Bowlers – Tom Vine, Atif Mehmood, Mian Mehmood

Suggested Playing XI No.2 for Fantasy Cricket:

Keeper – Awais Ahmed

Batters – Arslan Ahmed (VC), Karan Lal, Zohaib Sarwar

All-Rounders –Faran Afzal, Paul Hennessy (C), Ravi Panchal, Paulo Buccimazza

Bowlers – Tom Vine, Mian Mehmood, Najjam Shahzad

Expert Advice:

Spain is well known for not playing with the same batting-order in two consecutive matches. Except for 1-2 players, no one else gets a chance to bat at the same position in consecutive matches.

Probable Winners:

Spain is expected to win the first game of the tournament comfortably.

*Disclaimer: This team is based on the understanding, analysis and instinct of the author. While selecting your team, consider the points mentioned and make your own decision.