…Barbados Tridents take on St. Kitts& Vevis Patriots in second match

By Clifton Ross

THE quest for the elusive Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title bowls off today for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, who square  off against long-time nemesis and ‘Bubble’ hosts, the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) in the first of two opening round matches played at the Brian Lara Academy in Trinidad & Tobago.

If the recent rumours about TKR and the local players managing to sneak in training and practice are true, then Chris Green will certainly have his hands filled to the brim with responsibility as the Warriors new captain.

On paper, TKR seems to be the ‘Eye-Candy’ of the two franchises, having the most experienced core of T20 Guns-for-hire at their disposal. The last 5 encounters between these two sides, over the course of the last 3 seasons dating back to 2018, has resulted in a 4-1 score-line in favor of the 5-time finalists, Warriors, who outpunched the Knight Riders.

This season, however, is entirely different compared to the previous years as a number of overseas players have been kept out of the tournament due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The onus this year will lie on the shoulders of the local players in both franchises, who are likely to field a few new faces in a bid to find the right ‘combo’ as the tournament progresses.

With New Zealand’s Ross Taylor being their premier overseas batsman, the Warriors will want to see more from their star core of West Indian stars like Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King.

King, in particular, ended as the leading batsman for the Warriors last season before going on to gain some experience in the West Indies senior limited overs team, and will be tasked with doing more for his team in the absence of the globally recognised firepower in the batting department.

The Warriors homegrown core of stars: Shimron Hetmyer, Anthony Bramble, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd and Sherfane Rutherford will have eyes on them. With their Windies experience and a seemingly more matured approach to cricket, it is likely that those aforementioned players will play a much higher brand of T20 cricket in the weeks to come.

TKR, on the other hand, will field a more experienced, aggressive batting unit, led by Kieron Pollard and features T20 veterans Dwayne Bravo, his brother Darren, Lendl Simmons and Sunil Narine, who have more T20 experience than most of the players in the Warriors side.

The international pair of Kiwi, Colin Munro, a proven match-winner and centurion in previous editions and newbie Zimbabwean all-rounder, Sikandar Raza, are a huge boost for the home team, especially with their opponents’ batting a more regionally-constructed unit. Given their IPL records, Narine, the Bravos, Pollard and Simmons are the key for TKR with the bat and ball when it’s all said and done.

From a bowling angle, it’s a tussle as the Warriors have been one of the best bowling units over the years. Warriors have more international class bowlers who will be a handful, with the likes of South African ‘leggy’ specialist, Imran Tahir and  the skipper, Green. They will rely on seamers, Paul, Rutherford and Shepherd, to complement the Warriors mixed bowling attack.

The Trinidadian side will want more from their bowling stars like pacer Ali Khan, spinner Kharry Pierre, Narine and possibly the 48-year-old Indian spinner, Pravin Tambe, who has been a star in the IPL over the years.

Both units also have a few young pieces amidst the veterans. The Warriors could allow some match time for the young pair of Kevin Sinclair and Ashmead Nedd– two highly-decorated West Indies youth players.

Pollard will also be keen on seeing what his youngsters like the classy Amir Jangoo, or even a Windies U-19 stud the likes of Jayden Seales could offer sometime down the line.

Apart from the talent, both teams will want to have a strong mental approach over the next month in the ‘Bubble’. With no fans, a number of restrictions and limited bonding among teammates and teams could upset the mentally unstable. Also, with most of the stars well-rested after months away due to lockdown, a higher level of cricket is expected to be on display over the next few weeks.

Barbados Tridents vs St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

Meanwhile, over at the  same venue, defending champions Barbados Tridents will be on a mission to get their 2020 campaign off to a great start, when they do battle with the Rayad Emrit-led St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

Action at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy Ground between GAW and TKR bowls off at 10:00h while the Tridents/Patriots encounter will top off the first day of action under lights from 17:30h.