T10 League - Day 5 preview: Rajputs and Kerala Knights look to get back on track

Northern Warriors face Maratha Arabian in evening match

Rajputs opener Mohammed Shahzad scored a 16-ball 74 against Sindhis on Day 1 of the T10 League at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. Chris Whiteoak / The National

6.30pm, Rajputs v Kerala Knights

This is a meeting of two sides who must have each thought they were invincible after the opening day, only to come back down to early with a bump immediately.

Mohammed Shahzad started the tournament off in sensational fashion, as his 16-ball 74 gave Rajputs a 10-wicket win, with six overs to spare, over Sindhis.

In the game that followed on Wednesday, Kerala Knights begun their title defence with an eight-wicket demolition of Pakhtoons.

Each lost next time out, though – most strikingly the champions, who were mired at six for four after just one Pravin Tambe over against Sindhis.

One significant feature of the game could be how Shahzad and Brendon McCullum, the Rajputs openers, combat the leg-spin of Kerala's Sandeep Lamichhane.

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8.45pm, Northern Warriors v Maratha Arabians

Northern Warriors were abject in their first game. Next time out, they were astonishing.

This is the side who hit a scarcely-believable 183 against Punjabi Legends next time out, on their way to a 99-run win.

That included 19 sixes – so one every third ball, near enough, on average – and was underpinned by 77 in 25 balls by Nicholas Pooran.

Maratha Arabians also overturned a first-match defeat with a success second time round, and Rashid Khan, the world’s No 1 Twenty20 bowler, appears to be warming to the task of 10-over cricket.

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