Trinbago Knight Riders vs Barbados Tridents, Match 28, Port-of-Spain: Preview, predictions, likely XIs

Trinbago Knight Riders will host Barbados Tridents for Match 28 of the 2019 CPL at Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain. While both sides have already qualified for the Playoffs, the battle for the second spot, after Guyana Amazon Warriors, is still on. Whoever reaches there – even St Kitts and Nevis Patriots have a chance, however minuscule – will play the Amazon Warriors in Qualifier 1.

This is Barbados’ last match, and they have to win this to stay in the hunt for the top two. After losing twice in a row, they came back strongly to win 2 of their next 3 – against the Knight Riders (that too by 63 runs) and St Lucia Zouks.

Barbados’ recent success has a lot to with Hayden Walsh Jr, whose leg-breaks have yielded figures of 4-0-19-5, 4-0-37-2, and 3.4-0-26-4 in his last 3 matches. His 15 wickets are the most in the tournament. After Sandeep Lamichhane had to leave to serve international duty, Jason Holder, Harry Gurney, and Raymon Reifer have all stood up to support Walsh Jr.

The batting, however, is more solid than explosive, and that is something that may hurt Barbados – for Trinbago boasts of an XI of uninhibited big hitters.

For Trinidad, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Colin Munro, and Sunil Narine have all hit at 158 or above. The bowling, on the other hand, has looked thin other than Narine and Khary Pierre – which has been largely responsible for them losing their last 3 decided matches.

This is going to be a battle between two evenly matched teams, one a batsman-dominated side, the other a bowler-dominated one. Their home advantage probably gives Trinbago a slight edge.

Head to head

Trinbago Knight Riders have beaten Barbados Tridents 8 times and lost to them 5 times, including once in the ongoing tournament.

Key players

Kieron Pollard (Trinbago Knight Riders): With 244 runs at 162 and 6 wickets, the Knight Riders’ captain will be one to keep an eye on. His incredible onslaught (71 in 38 balls) against the Amazon Warriors went in vain, but indicated the kind of form he is in.

Hayden Walsh Jr (Barbados Tridents): Not only is Walsh Jr the leading wicket-taker of the 2019 CPL, he is 3 wickets clear of anyone else’s tally. Batsmen have found his leg-breaks difficult to score off, something that may hurt the Knight Riders.

Likely XIs

Trinbago Knight Riders: Lendl Simmons, Mark Deyal, Colin Munro, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kieron Pollard (c), Jimmy Neesham, Javon Searles, Khary Pierre, Chris Jordan, Ali Khan.

Barbados Tridents: Johnson Charles (wk), Alex Hales, Shakib Al Hasan, JP Duminy, Justin Greaves, Raymon Reifer, Jonathan Carter, Jason Holder (c), Ashley Nurse, Hayden Walsh Jr, Harry Gurney.

Prediction

Trinbago to convert their home advantage to a win.