The second part of the double header in the Caribbean Premier League on Thursday sees the seemingly runaway CPL 2021 leaders St Kitts and Nevis Patriots taking on the dangerous Barbados Royals in what looks like a tasty encounter.
With the Saint Lucia Kings winning the earlier match in the day this match is now top against bottom and while the Patriots are leading the way and looking a million dollars, the Royals are under pressure to win here to avoid getting cut adrift.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots
It is now played four and won four for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and when you consider the last three matches have been won without Chris Gayle you would have to suggest there is more to come from this talented side. I always think you can tell the confidence of a side by how they go about their business in terms of whether there is any panic setting in at some point and the Patriots haven’t shown any regardless of the situation which bodes well for them.
If you want to be critical of the St Kitts and Nevis side you could argue they have conceded a few more runs than you might expect but that really is splitting hairs. The good thing from their point of view is that they are winning the matches with plenty of batting still in the hutch. It might be that their biggest danger right now is complacency because they certainly look to have all their combinations working well.
Barbados Royals
It has all been a bit of a struggle for the Barbados Royals so far. They’re not getting thrashed but the key moments in matches aren’t going their way and then when they are on top they run into an insane performance that halts them in their tracks. In a way that is the worst position to be in because there isn’t a whole lot they can do to rectify the situation. They’re not doing much wrong yet they need to find more than what they have.
Generally when a team finds themselves in this situation they push more than they need to and end up in a bit of a hole so the Royals really need to guard against that. If there is an area where they can improve it is their output at the top of the innings. The time might have come for Shai Hope to step aside as they need to get some momentum into their batting. Glenn Phillips has a good record as an opener in this competition through the years and it might be time to let him loose there.
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Key Men
I don’t know whether he will be the man who decides this contest but Fabian Allen is really becoming a quality all-rounder and while he doesn’t get the headlines Andre Russell does because he doesn’t bowl as quick and isn’t as brutal with the bat, he’s heading in the direction of him in terms of impact on a game. He’ll look to impact this one.
Whenever a side aren’t on top and full of confidence I always think the captain is a key player. Jason Holder’s impact on this side in terms of runs and wickets probably isn’t what he would like or what the team needs so this would be an ideal time for him to stand up and be counted.
Betting
I like the sixes in this match. The line is the relatively generic 14.5 one which we’ve had throughout the tournament but there is a clear disparity with how these pitches play in the day time to how they play in the evening matches. The dew binds it together a bit more and probably lessens the impact of the bowler’s control of the ball which allows the batsmen to thrive in the evening matches and that is what I expect to happen here.
There is no shortage of power in these two batting lineups although really there doesn’t need to be power hitters because this ground is on the smaller side of those in world cricket these days. As long as the pitch plays well, which I expect it to, and teams can keep a few wickets in hand I fully expect the sixes to flow in this one. The pitch played pretty tough in the first game which only had 247 runs but it contained 18 sixes. There were 16 sixes in the reverse meeting between these two and I expect this line to be covered as well.
Tips
Back Over 14.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
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