There is another double header of action in the CPL 2021 season on Friday and it opens up with the two sides yet to get their campaign underway doing so at Warner Park as the Jamaica Tallawahs go up against the Saint Lucia Kings.
The Kings will be looking to back up their run to the final of the competition last season, while the Tallawahs really need to get a bit of a spurt on to get back to the level they were at previously, with their aim on winning titles.
Jamaica Tallawahs
This is a much changed Jamaica Tallawahs side to the one we would have been accustomed to a few years ago with the likes of Chris Gayle and Oshane Thomas among a few who have moved on. It might be that the most significant squad change is that Glenn Phillips has moved over to Barbados. He leaves an enormous hole in their batting which they hope Haider Ali will fix but he’ll need to because there is a good chance that Andre Russell will bat at five and if he is more miss than hit Jamaica could really struggle.
The one area where the Tallawahs have done good work is in the spin department. Chris Green and Qais Ahmad should be handy operators as the tournament goes on, but it might be too soon for them to impact the match here. Jamaica are one of the biggest islands so there will be an expectation on their players to deliver the title this season. You get the feeling there might be too much of an overreliance on Andre Russell for that to happen.
Saint Lucia Kings
There is a new era beginning within the Saint Lucia Kings camp. First of all they begin their third name in this match but also they will be without Daren Sammy as captain for the first time. His cricketing brain often went unfactored but he is part of the backroom department so he will still be able to have an input which I think is important. The other good thing is he has been replaced as captain by Faf du Plessis, who certainly isn’t inexperienced.
The Kings have lost a lot of wickets from last season but they still look to have a very competitive bowling attack here with nearly every player apart from the wicket keeper offering up a bowling option. There is the danger that they are a batsman light but if they pace their innings well enough then they should be able to get over that. After their run to the final last season, the Saint Lucia outfit will fancy their chances here.
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Key Men
It will come as no surprise that the key man for the Jamaica Tallawahs is the all-rounder Andre Russell. He is the one man in this side who you feel could win the game on his own. The rest of the team would probably need help around them but a Russell blitz can open up any contest.
Obed McCoy was the leading wicket taker in the competition last season and he’ll be out to show that was no fluke here. This isn’t the strongest or longest Tallawahs line-up so if he can pick up early wickets the match might open up for the Kings.
Betting
I’m a little surprised that the Saint Lucia Kings are the outsiders for this match. I wouldn’t have them as certainties or anything like that but I do think there is a better balance of their side and I think in the key areas they look better than the Tallawahs. Whenever you take Jamaica on you are always dicing with death by an Andre Russell blitz but that aside I think Saint Lucia can get their new era underway with a win.
There are a number of bowlers in this Saint Lucia side that are going to be hard to get away and then there is enough batting depth for the Kings to get the job done too. Jamaica just look light on batting to me and in truth one or two of their bowlers might not be suited to conditions just yet. Saint Lucia carry a lot of positivity from last season with them into this campaign and at even money I think they can transform that into an opening win.
Tips
Back Saint Lucia Kings to beat Jamaica Tallawahs for a 3/10 stake at 2.00 with Coral
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