We have the first double header of the Caribbean Premier League season on Saturday night with the opening game of two coming from Guyana as the Guyana Amazon Warriors host the St Lucia Stars to get things underway.
These two sides had very differing results in their first matches with Guyana winning their first match and St Lucia getting walloped in theirs so it will be interesting to see if those runs continue or reverse.
Guyana Amazon Warriors
I must admit I didn’t necessarily expect the Guyana Amazon Warriors to win their opening match although I didn’t completely rule it out. What I certainly didn’t expect was for them to look so good and that was very much a positive for them. With the exception of a few too many wides with the ball, which you can legislate for as they were trying to control Chris Gayle, they were very good.
There was no bowler who was able to be got after and with the bat although they had a shaky start when they got into their stride there was no stopping them. It was actually a performance which should have made the rest of the competition stand up and take notice. The question now is whether they can back that up here.
St Lucia Stars
If the Amazon Warriors were excellent in the first game the St Lucia Stars were the exact opposite. They were absolutely terrible from start to finish. They bowled far too many boundary balls and with the bat they were a complete shambles. They might have changed a lot of personnel in the close season but it doesn’t look like it has made much of a difference.
The big issue which will concern Kieron Pollard and the Stars’ coaching staff here is how terrible they looked against spin. Guyana is a wicket which will turn and if St Lucia don’t play the spinners better this is going to be a long afternoon for them. They really need a win soon to restore their fragile confidence as a franchise.
Team News
It would be a major surprise if Guyana Amazon Warriors are not unchanged for this match unless some sort of punishment has come the way of Sohail Tanvir after his petty send off in the previous match.
St Lucia Stars could probably do with changing things but whether they want to make such a potentially damaging call this early in the season remains to be seen. I would be surprised if someone doesn’t pay the price for their poor performance in the first game.
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Betting
It can be foolish to look too much into opening game performances in a season but I think when one side such as Guyana Amazon Warriors looks so good and the other in St Lucia Stars looks so terrible we have to take notice and use it to our advantage.
I always think Guyana have a bit of an advantage in their own conditions and with the fragile confidence of St Lucia in front of them I expect the hosts to pick up a second win. There is no glue in this St Lucia batting line up so if they get off to another bad start things could easily crumble out of control once again. It is the home side for me here.
Tips
WON – Back Guyana Amazon Warriors to beat St Lucia Stars for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Betfair
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