The penultimate match of this season’s Caribbean Premier League is a repeat of the 2017 CPL final as the Trinbago Knight Riders take on the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in Qualifier 2, a straight knockout clash to determine who will face Guyana Amazon Warriors in Sunday’s final.
Trinbago won that final 12 months ago and will be eager to win on Friday night to have the shot at defending their title. The last two matches of the tournament are in Trinidad so they will enjoy home advantage but that is unlikely to concern St Kitts too much.
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Trinbago Knight Riders
A week or so ago the Trinbago Knight Riders were looking huge favourites to defend their title but two clashes with the Guyana Amazon Warriors saw them given heavy beatings both times and now it is do or die time for them. The big concern is just how much those two defeats will have done to their confidence, damage wise.
The issues the Knight Riders had with the ball in the death overs has resurfaced again and that is a huge concern for them here, especially if they end up batting first, but their top order has suddenly stalled as well which will not help them if they are unable to rectify that in this match. They certainly need an improvement on their last two outings.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots
It is a strange quirk to the new playoff format in these events that the team who finishes higher and gets the double jeopardy ends up going into this second qualifier as the one lower on confidence. I say that because the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will be buzzing after pulling off a quite stunning run chase in the eliminator.
They looked dead and buried in that match and while we should acknowledge that a huge amount of dew assisted them but even so, they deserve complete credit for the way they held themselves together under the ultimate pressure. What they clearly need to shake themselves up on is their efforts with the ball but if they can find their best bowling effort they should not be ruled out.
Team News
Although the Trinbago Knight Riders have been well beaten in their last two outings you get the feeling there isn’t much on the sidelines that would improve them so the same XI could be given the chance to put things right.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots rightly loaded their side with spinners in the last match but conditions here should not dictate so many slow bowlers. Shannon Gabriel could be expected to return while Alzarri Joseph is another hoping to play. The Patriots will hope Evin Lewis is fit to feature.
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Betting
This is the trilogy meeting between the two sides this season with a win apiece so there is nothing to split them on that front but one trend has been the high first innings scores. St Kitts and Nevis made 203/7 in their win and Trinbago hit 199/4 in their victory so these batting line ups are not averse to going big against the opposing bowling attack. With that in mind I’m comfortable with taking over 16.5 sixes here. These two met in the first qualifier here last year when there were 250 runs in the match yet 15 sixes were hit. The wickets are better this year and the hitting easier which will help. Both sides hit down to number eight in their batting line up which also helps so I’m expecting the big hits to flow here.
Brandon King could be a key player for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. He came in the other night hitting sixes right from the off and batting deeper in the order when the Trinbago pies come out may suit him nicely. King has a few bits and pieces scores in this tournament but when it came good he made a blockbuster of a 60. I don’t suppose King will be in for a long time but it’ll be a good time while he’s there and in a pressure situation the freedom he explodes with could yield top scoring dividends.
Tips
Back Over 16.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with LeoVegas
Back it here:
Back B.King – Top St Kitts and Nevis Patriots Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Betfair
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