Caribbean Premier League T20, Trinbago Knight Riders vs St. Lucia Zouks: Match Preview, Pitch Report, Playing XI and Key Players
With 2 wins in 2 matches, the defending champions, Trinbago Knight Riders have kicked off their Caribbean Premier League 2019 campaign on a fantastic note. Kieron Pollard's men face the St. Lucia Zouks next, who are coming off the back of a defeat to the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
The Zouks face a stiff challenge outwitting the Trinidad and Tobago-based franchise at their home venue, especially considering the latter has already tamed the Patriots and the Tallawahs at the Queen's Park Oval.
Sunil Narine and James Neesham have been the stars for the Knight Riders while in the previous match, youngster Tion Webster played a whirlwind knock of 66 runs.
On the other side, the Zouks will hope that the likes of Andre Fletcher, Thisara Perera and Darren Sammy get into their groove and improve the team's performance. A lot of big hitters will be in action tonight and that could lead to an enjoyable contest.
Match details
Date: 8th September 2019 (Sunday)
Time: 09:30 PM (India), 12:00 PM (Local)
Venue: Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad
Weather report
Since this is a day game, the rain gods are not expected to interfere with weather predictions stating that the sun would shine for the entire course of the match.
Pitch report
The batsmen have enjoyed batting on the wicket at the Queen's Park Oval and with the match taking place in the afternoon, one can expect another batsman-friendly pitch, which offers little assistance to the spinners.
Trinbago Knight Riders
A clinical performance against the Jamaica Tallawahs would not tempt Kieron Pollard to make any changes in the match squad.
Batting
Key Players - Tion Webster, Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard
Lendl Simmons is yet to bring his A-game to the table but the partnership of Tion Webster and Narine have delivered the goods for the Knight Riders so far. The duo will try to continue their fine form in this fixture while Pollard would also look to get some runs under his belt, just like the first two matches.
Bowling
Key Players - Sunil Narine, James Neesham and Seekkuge Prasanna
Narine and Neesham have scalped wickets at regular intervals for the Trinbago Knight Riders and in the previous game, Sri Lankan spinner Prasanna supported them with an economic spell. These three bowlers will be key to the Knight Riders' fortunes again.
Predicted Playing XI
Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons, Tion Webster, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kieron Pollard (C), Jimmy Neesham, Javon Searles, Seekkuge Prassana, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Mohammad Hasnain
St. Lucia Zouks
After a 13-run loss against the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Sammy and co. would look to bring their campaign back on track against the Knight Riders.
Batting
Key Players - Rahkeem Cornwall, Najibullah Zadran and Andre Fletcher
If the Zouks want to give Trinbago Knight Riders a run for their money, the trio of Cornwall, Zadran and Fletcher needs to come out all guns blazing. A lot will rely on the performance of the opening duo as they will have the responsibility of setting the tone for the rest of the innings
Bowling
Key Players - Obed McCoy, Fawad Ahmed and Kesrick Williams
Obed McCoy's 4-wicket haul in the previous match went in vain as he wasn't accorded enough support. However, he would expect Ahmed and Williams to give a better account of themseleves this time so that the bowling attack can nullify the Knight Riders' batting threat.
Predicted Playing XI
Andre Fletcher (wk), Rahkeem Cornwall, Andre McCarthy, Najibullah Zadran, Darren Sammy (C), Christopher Barnwell, Thisara Perera, Obed McCoy, Fawad Ahmed, Krishmar Santokie, Kesrick Williams.
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