We have another double header of action in the Caribbean Premier League on Sunday with the first of the two games seeing the last two winners of the CPL battling it out when the Trinbago Knight Riders take on the Barbados Tridents.
The Tridents took the title off the Knight Riders last year and will be in a decent early position to defend it successfully if they can come out on top here. In order to do that they will need to end the only 100% record remaining in the competition.
Trinbago Knight Riders
The Trinbago Knight Riders have been untroubled in this competition so far. They cruised past the Guyana Amazon Warriors in their opening match and then eased past a disappointing Jamaica Tallawahs in the second game. They would be entitled to think that this will be their toughest test of the season to date, but plenty of their side look to be in good form already so that will bode well as they face this tough challenge.
The pitches at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy are just beginning to take some turn now which is only going to help Trinbago, so the home side should be very confident about their chances. They bat a long way down and have the right mix of power and cleverness in their line up so that they aren’t going to get rolled over very often. They have a decent mix of clever seamers and mystery spinners as well so they’ll be hard to beat.
Barbados Tridents
The defending champions Barbados Tridents have a win and a loss from their opening two matches, although the defeat came when the rain went heavily against them. It was actually to their credit that they put up the fight that they did in trying to defend the low total against the St Lucia Zouks but in the end it was in vain. That will make them determined to get over the line here but that extra fire and motivation might not be a bad thing.
There is a serious case to be made that the Barbados Tridents carry the best bowling attack in this tournament, one which is only going to be strengthened if the pitches continue to take spin like we are seeing them doing. If there is a concern it is that their genuine batting runs out a little early but if their big players fin their form that shouldn’t be too much of an issue. Barbados are a dangerous side particularly if they score decent runs.
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Key Men
Sunil Narine is now the second highest run scorer in the competition and he has three wickets from his two matches as well so there is a strong chance that he will be the key man for the Trinbago Knight Riders in this match.
Rashid Khan has started the campaign very strongly for the Barbados Tridents and with these wickets beginning to turn sharply you’ve got to think he is going to be a danger man for his side here, especially with the chance of some lusty blows down the order too.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets for this match. The runs line looks a little too high at 302.5 to me. We are getting to that time in the tournament where scoring runs is going to be hard enough as it is without having to do it against the quality that is in either of these bowling attacks. If they wanted to both these sides could easily send down 12+ overs of quality spin but there are decent seamers in the ranks of both of them too, so I’m not expecting much respite for the batsmen. Barbados’ batting is a little flimsy for my liking and a couple of their top order haven’t got going yet which isn’t ideal. We’ve had eight matches in the tournament to date and only two have covered this line. I’m not sure this one will.
Jason Holder has had a good start to the tournament with the bat. He top scored for Barbados in the first game and only Johnson Charles scored more than him in the second one so the 9/1 on him to top score looks a little on the high side, especially when Trinbago have the bowlers to get him in early or when the top score is still very much in sight. Holder is hitting a clean ball at the minute and with Shai Hope and Corey Anderson yet to find some form there is a good chance that Holder’s batting will be needed once again. At 9/1 I’ll risk him top scoring.
Tips
Back Under 302.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
Back J.Holder Top Barbados Tridents Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 10.00 with William Hill
Back him here:
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