Capricorn meet Leo Lions; Virgo Super Kings take on Sagittarius Strikers

The Capricorn Commanders will take on the Leo Lions in the first fixture on Friday afternoon after which the Virgo Super Kings will close out the night along with Sagittarius Strikers.

 After the fun and the fanfare and an entertaining tournament opener, it is down to business for the other teams in the Masters Champions League.
After the Libra Legends and the Gemini Arabians provides a few indications in the first fixture late on Thursday night, the four other teams will be hoping to be on the right side of the result and raise the bar.
Friday looks to be blockbuster with a double-header slotted for the night. The Capricorn Commanders will take on the Leo Lions in the first fixture on Friday afternoon after which the Virgo Super Kings will close out the night along with Sagittarius Strikers.
As was said before, there's nothing much separating the teams with all the six franchises well stacked up with some exceptional talent from the past as well as the recent past.
The Capricorn Commanders are led by former England T20 World Cup-winning captain Paul Collingwood. His 15-man squad boasts of the likes of former England captain Michael Vaughan, Pakistan all-rounder Abdul Razzaq, Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, South Africa's Ashwell Prince, Sri Lanka's Upul Chandana as well as Australia's Ben Laughlin, who was recently involved in the Big Bash, apart from India's Sunil Joshi, England's Geraint Jones and others.
In the lead-up to the competition, Collingwood, who led England to the World T20 title in 2010, spoke about the athleticism in his squad and hoped that will give them an edge.
Knowing Collingwood, who was one of the best fielders of his time, one can expect fielding standards to be top notch if not the best. Meanwhile, the Leo Lions are captained by one of the greatest legends of the game Brian Lara. And the West Indian said that his squad has a fair sprinkling of all-rounders, specialist batsmen, fast bowlers and spinners.
But Lara added that with the tournament being held on such batsmen-friendly pitches, the aim would be to score bucketful of runs if they hope to make a contest out of it. Lara's team has Zimbabwe's Heath Streak, South Africa's Herschelle Gibbs, New Zealand's Scott Styris, England's Darren Gough, Zimbabwe's Brendon Taylor, South Africa's Johan Botha, New Zealand's James Franklin, West Indian Fidel Edwards and former UAE captain Mohammad Tauqir.
Meanwhile, the second game of the night too is an interesting one with the Virgo Super Kings, skippered by South Africa's Graeme Smith, the most successful Test captain of all-time, going up against Adam Gilchrist's Sagittarius Strikers. Smith's team reads like the who is who of cricket with the likes of compatriot Jonty Rhodes, who took fielding to an altogether different level, Aussie pace ace Brett Lee, India's Murali Kartik, England's Owais Shah, New Zealand's Jacob Oram among others.
Gilchrist's squad has Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene, New Zealand duo Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond, the UAE's Khurram Khan, England's Jonathan Trott, Pakistan's Mushtaq Ahmed and others.
So, brace up for two intriguing contests.
james@khaleejtimes.com 

• Masters Champions League