CPL 2019: St Lucia Zouks vs Trinbago Knight Riders, Match 18: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

St Lucia Zouks will play against Trinbago Knight Riders in the next match of the Caribbean Premier League at home. Although they failed to take the home advantage in their last encounter against Barbados Tridents, this is another chance for St Lucia to win at Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia.

It has been a poor tournament for St Lucia till now with only one win out of four fixtures. On the other hand, Trinbago Knight Riders are at the second place of the table and having a constant fight with Guyana Amazon Warriors for the top position. No wonder for the fifth placed team, St Lucia this match will be a tough one.

If there is one thing the Zouks would like to take from their previous match, it is Obed McCoy’s bowling. He took two wickets for just 19 runs in three overs and helped his team to restrict Barbados for a reachable score of 172/6. Kesrik Willaims was another star performer with 3/44 in his four overs. Their batting has been solely dependent on Rahkeem Cornwall and his failure made it evident in the last outing. St Lucia’s has a collapse last time which needs to be taken care of and Cornwall has to take lead for the same.

For the Tridents, the tournament looks sorted. With four wins out of five they are ready to clinch yet another one sided win. Moreover, their last match ended in the one-over eliminator that was won by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.  Lendl Simmons was once against outstanding with bat and got support from the entire lineup. Kieron Pollard is another big name in the batting squad who can change the game. On the other hand, James Neesham has been a key performer from the bowling unit.

The last face-off between these two saw the Riders winning it by seven wickets. St Lucia will look for revenge which looks very unlikely.

Key players

Rahkheem Cornwall (St Lucia Zouks)– The only batter to represent St Lucia in the top ten batsmen list is the most dependable player in the batting squad for St Lucia. Another last match like breakdown can be avoided for the Zouks if Rahkheem once again delivers with bat. His strike rate of 245.3 can be devastating for the opponents.  

Jimmy Neesham (Trinbago Knight Riders): The New Zealand all-rounder has been the key bowler for the Riders in this tournament. With eight wickets at an average of 23.75, he is one of the leading bowlers of the CPL 2019 so far. Whereas the team has a number of dependable bats to carry innings, Neesham is the best bet for them with the ball.

Head to head

In the 13 clashes so far Trinbago Knight Riders have won ten times. The only two times St Lucia won were once each in 2015 and 2016.

Likely XIs

St Lucia Zouks– Andre Fletcher, Rahkeem Cornwall, Kavem Hodge, Colin de Grandhomme, Daren Sammy, Roland Cato, Thisara Perera, Kesrick Williams, Hardus Viljoen, Obed McCoy, Fawad Ahmed

Trinbago Knight Riders– Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Colin Munro, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Mark Deyal, James Neesham, Seekkuge Prasanna, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Ali Khan

Prediction

Trinbago Knight Riders to win the match.