Trinbago Knight Riders v St Lucia Zouks, Port of Spain
Our XI:
NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so do keep an eye on team news at the toss before making your final picks.
Our XI: Sunil Narine, Andre Fletcher (wk), Colin Munro (vice-capt), Roston Chase, Kieron Pollard, Mohammad Nabi (capt), Dwayne Bravo, Kesrick Williams, Scott Kuggeleijn, Khary Pierre, Fawad Ahmed
Captain: Mohammad Nabi
Nabi has contributed handsomely both with bat and ball – and was named Man of the Match in back-to-back victories – helping St Lucia Zouks to the top half of the table. With three left-handers in Trinbago Knight Riders’ top four – Sunil Narine, Colin Munro and Darren Bravo – it might not be a bad idea to throw the new ball to Nabi at Queen’s Park Oval. Even if he doesn’t get you the breakthroughs with his offspin, bank on him to deliver with the bat in the middle order.
Vice-captain: Colin Munro
Munro kicked into higher gear against reigning champions Barbados Tridents on Sunday, scoring a 29-ball half-century, on a used track, before holing out. While Munro went berserk against pace, he wasn’t as comfortable against the spin of Ashley Nurse and Rashid Khan. However, Munro has a formidable record at Queen’s Park Oval: 632 runs in 16 innings at an average of just a shade over 45 and strike rate of 137.39.
Hot Picks
Sunil Narine: He laboured to 8 off 16 balls at the top of the order on Sunday, but spun the ball both ways with his new action and nipped out wicketkeeper-opener Shai Hope. Sunday’s outing with the bat may just be an aberration, so back Narine to come good in his two-in-one role against Zouks.
Scott Kuggeleijn: Kuggeleijn, a replacement player for Zouks, is, after Sunday’s games, the top wicket-taker this CPL, with ten strikes in four matches at an average of 12.70 and economy rate 8.37. The New Zealand quick has succeeded in Tarouba by hitting an in-between length and getting balls to stop on the batsmen. Kuggeleijn will be looking to emulate a similar template in Port of Spain. This method had also worked for him during his brief IPL stint with Chennai Super Kings in 2019.
Value picks
Roston Chase: Chase doesn’t quite roll out those big hits. He bowls the unglamorous variety of spin: fingerspin. Yet, on sluggish tracks in Trinidad, he has impressed with his busy accumulation and ability to extract some extra bounce. Chase came into this CPL with no half-century in T20 cricket; he now has two fifties in three innings. So, ignore his current form at your own peril.
Dwayne Bravo: Dwayne could have picked up his 500th T20 wicket on Sunday itself had his brother Darren not dropped a catch in the outfield. In the end, Dwayne conceded 46 in his four overs and was the only Knight Riders bowler to have not taken a wicket. Expect Bravo to get to his 500th at his home ground and bounce back against Zouks.
Point to note