The Caribbean Premier League season has been a sprint this term in order to fit all the cricket in around the world and it comes to a close on Wednesday when Saint Lucia Kings take on the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL 2021 final.
Both these sides came through high scoring semi-finals with a fair bit in hand and looked in good touch as well so we should be in for a very good quality final as these two franchises bid to win the title for the first time.
Saint Lucia Kings
Given that they have been hit and miss in the regular season stage of the competition you have to give plenty of credit to the Saint Lucia Kings for the way they played in the semi-final. They got out to a positive start which meant that they were able to play out the Trinbago Knight Riders threats before tucking in at the end again and putting up the sort of total that they would have had to bowl badly not to be able to defend.
That wasn’t necessarily a given after some of the bowling performances they offered up in the regular season but they got wickets at the right time, and although Kieron Pollard threatened to take the match away from them, they held their nerve and when they got him out the path to the final was there for the taking and they made no mistake. This is the second final in a row for the Kings and they will be eager to go one better than they did last term.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots
The St Kitts and Nevis Patriots were equally as comfortable in their semi-finial. They saw off the challenge of the regular bridesmaids Guyana Amazon Warriors and did it chasing down a daunting target, or what appeared as though it could have been one had it not been for the incredible start they made to their run chase. In the end it was an absolute cruise and they deserve a lot of credit for the ease with which they were able to win.
If there is a concern over anything regarding the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots heading into this final then it would probably come with their bowlers. They haven’t really restricted teams throughout the competition but the power of their batting has meant that it hasn’t mattered. Generally when they have lost it has been when Dwayne Bravo hasn’t been available for selection but with him looking in good shape ahead of the final that could make all the difference.
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Key Men
Roston Chase has been the leading batsman for the Saint Lucia Kings this season and in a big final teams tend to need their big players to step up and make their mark. He can be the one they all bat around but he can explode into life too so he’ll be key for the Kings.
Evin Lewis has been in the form of his life since the weekend and you get the impression that if the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots are going to win this match then he will have played a significant role with the bat. If he goes early it could be costly.
Betting
The first market I always look at is the match winner one but I don’t need to get involved in that here because I’m already on the Saint Lucia Kings at 15/2 having backed them to win the tournament before a ball was hit. I’m encouraged by the fact that they have won both the matches with the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots this term, although it should be pointed out that Dwayne Bravo wasn’t around for either of those so the Patriots will feel better here. I still think this is a 50:50 final though so I’m happy to have that outright bet on side.
I do think we are going to see some sixes in this final though. The pitches have played much better since the weekend and these two batting units have taken advantage of that. There is also a sense that both attacks can go round the park and we got a taste of that with both teams conceding 175 in the semi-final. The sixes line is 15.5 which looks high but there were 17 in the first match between these two and 11 in the second with the Patriots not scoring more than 125 in either of their innings. They’ll surely do that here which brings about a greater chance of getting to 16 sixes. In the semi-final, Saint Lucia smashed 16 sixes against a better Trinbago attack than the one they face here while the Patriots clobbered 13 against a decent Guyana attack. This final should be full of sixes so I’ll take the over.
Tips
Back Over 15.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with BetVictor
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