The Caribbean Premier League is at the Queens Park Oval for the second and final time in the CPL 2024 season on Thursday night when the Trinbago Knight Riders play host to the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in a key match for both sides.
The Knight Riders opened up the home leg of their season with a win over the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday night and will look to back that up here. The Falcons are running out of matches in their quest for the top four and really need a win here so this is nicely poised.
Trinbago Knight Riders
The Trinbago Knight Riders are steadily moving into position to ensure they have the best chance of going one better than they did last season where they were beaten in the final of the competition. Trinbago moved up to second in the table with the win over Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday and now have four more matches to maximise their position. A win here would see them not only pull clear of the chasers for second spot but also move level on points with Barbados Royals at the top of the table.
The win over the Amazon Warriors was set up by the bowlers. Their spinners were in sensational form despite the rain that has been around the area over the last few days. It is fair to say that they made heavy weather of things with the bat but when they needed to come good their lower order power got them out of a hole which will give Trinbago even more confidence. If their top order can deliver a better showing then the Knight Riders are entitled to believe they are going to be tough to beat.
Antigua and Barbuda Falcons
This has been a bit of a rough campaign for the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons and it looks like their maiden season in the Caribbean Premier League is going to end in the group phase barring something quite remarkable. They have played eight matches and only won two and even in the unlikely situation that four wins is enough for a top four spot, their hugely negative run rate is going to go against them and they don’t have enough time to rectify that. All they can do is try to win the last two, hope at least one is a big win, and pray it is enough.
The shortcomings for the Falcons has been with the bat. Their top order hasn’t delivered for them nearly as often as they needed or in the volume of runs they would have wanted. Antigua and Barbuda actually have a spin trio that could be tough to face on this pitch, although all three will be under pressure here, but if the batters can’t give them something to defend it is unlikely to make much difference. If the batters can deliver then Antigua and Barbuda could get into a position to win but being in position against this Trinbago side and actually beating them are two different challenges.
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Key Players
Sunil Narine reminded us why he has been such a sought after commodity in this format of the game for so long on Wednesday night. He briefly threatened fireworks with the bat but his bowling helped to set the game up for his side. An in form Narine speaks danger for the rest.
Chris Green has probably been the star player for the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons this season. His bowling has been more than useful all season but we saw how important he can be with the bat in the last game. He needs to go well if the Falcons are to win this one.
Betting
Chris Green could be a leading player for the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons here. We saw on Wednesday that the square is very dry on this ground at the minute and that certainly isn’t going to change in the space of less than 24 hours so the Australian could be licking his lips. One reason why he’ll be a key man here is because he has dismissed Sunil Narine in the last two innings he has bowled at him in this competition and if he does that again he might just open the game up a little.
Green has a performance line of 28.5 here which looks big when you consider that in his last match he took four wickets and smoked 48 runs. Either of those efforts here will smash this performance line but even half of that combined showing will get the job done. Green has taken wickets in all but three matches this season, two of those he went without a wicket were against St Kitts and Nevis so he has a bit of an issue facing them, but if he gets a wicket here he will cover this total with either a catch or just nine runs. Given that Trinbago got the Guyana lower order in on Wednesday night you would imagine they will get Green in so even if he hasn’t covered this line with a pair of wickets or a wicket and a catch he could well get whatever else he needs with the bat. I like the over in this one.
Tips
Back C.Green’s Performance – Over 28.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with William Hill
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