The second part of the double header of action in the Caribbean Premier League on Sunday sees the CPL 2023 campaign close out the Trinidad leg of the season when the Trinbago Knight Riders take on the St Lucia Kings in the latest key match in the competition.
The Trinbago Knight Riders have now made it to top spot in the table and will secure a top two finish with a win in this match. St Lucia are in a decent position to extend their season but probably need to win here to have a chance of finishing in the top two.
Trinbago Knight Riders
After dropping their opening match in Trinidad to the Guyana Amazon Warriors, the Trinbago Knight Riders have won their last two and if they can close out the home leg of their season with another win then they will be in position to ease their way home when we get to Guyana for the remainder of the campaign. A win here guarantees Trinbago two goes at reaching another final but defeat would leave them needing to win their last game and hope other results go their way.
In terms of the actual cricket skills, the batters and the bowlers are both beginning to come to the fore nicely but the concern for this Trinbago side is everything that they do in the field is so slow that they keep pushing the boundaries of the time and eventually that will cost them in the end. Even bowling 14 overs of spin in the previous match wasn’t enough for them to avoid running out of time so they need to get more of a shift on.
St Lucia Kings
The St Lucia Kings have gone very well in the tournament to date but they slipped up against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Saturday afternoon which is very much dropping two points to the field, so they could really do with getting those back with a win against the Trinbago Knight Riders in this contest. They go into this match sitting third in the table though and a fast finish to the tournament will see them push for a top two spot and the coveted two goes at reaching the final.
The St Lucia Kings have done particularly well to be in this position when you consider that they lost their captain halfway through the competition. That has had an impact on their batting though and if they are going to go on and win the title they are going to need to find some top order runs because they can’t keep relying on those down the order to deliver the goods with the pitches only going to get tougher to bat on from here on in.
Special Offer
OPEN AN ACCOUNT WITH 888SPORT AND BET £10 TO GET £30 IN FREE BETS PLUS A £10 CASINO BONUS! PERFECT OFFER TO USE ON THE CARIBBEAN PREMIER LEAGUE! CLICK THE IMAGE BELOW TO JOIN. USE CODE 30F. NEW ACCOUNTS ONLY. 18+ T&Cs apply (See image for significant terms). Gamble Aware.
Key Players
Sunil Narine went back up to open the batting for the Trinbago Knight Riders on Saturday evening and while he didn’t get the big score that his team might have wanted, he got the bowlers on the back foot which was important after bowling his four overs tidily as ever.
Roston Chase continues to star with the ball for the St Lucia Kings but if they are going to push on and challenge for the title they are going to need him to offer consistent runs with the bat as well, starting here.
Betting
I expected a low scoring match when the Trinbago Knight Riders played the Jamaica Tallawahs here on Saturday evening and wasn’t disappointed and I don’t think this one will be much more higher scoring. Once again this will be the third match of the day on this pitch so it is likely to take some turn, even allowing for the dew which might well arrive. That plays right into the hands of the St Lucia Kings who could legitimately bowl all 20 overs of spin should they wish.
I don’t think Trinbago play spin particularly well but they can offer up a fair amount of spin themselves. They bowled 14 overs of it on Saturday night and still had two overs of it to use should they have wanted to so I’m expecting the batters to have to put plenty of pace on the ball on a wicket which is tiring and that tells me we can expect a low scoring game. Add in that the St Lucia top order are having a few issues and the 319.5 runs line looks a little on the high side to me.
Tips
Back Under 319.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2023
