Can five-time bridesmaids Warriors be the bride tonight?
Or will TKR take fifth CPL trophy?

TONIGHT will be the moment of truth when arch rivals Trinbago Knight Riders and the Guyana Amazon Warriors face off at the Providence Stadium for the Republic Bank CPL trophy.
TKR’s head-to-head record is 11-9, although the Warriors won the most matches while TKR has four titles and have never lost in a final.

The Warriors have attended five finals and were always the bridesmaid but has never been the bride.
A capacity crowd mostly of Warriors’ supporters from the diaspora will be at the battle ground tonight from 7pm to urge their team to a maiden title over their “Trini” counterparts whose fans have come from the twin-island republic and North America.

The rivalry between the Region’s two most powerful teams dates back to 2006 when Narsingh Deonarine deposited T&T’ Samuel Badree for the US $Millon six in Antigua with five needed from two balls.

Guyana’s only other T20 title was at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad in the 2010 West Indies T20 Championship when they beat Barbados to qualify for the Champions League in South Africa.

Guyana had beaten T&T in the semi-final to leave a jam-packed QPO in funereal mood.
Now 13 years later Keiron Pollard, Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo are the surviving members of that in an ageing TKR.

The Warriors on the other hand, despite skipper Imran Tahir being the oldest player in the tournament at 44, is a young team playing brilliantly.
But with Andrew Russel, Bravo, Pollard and Narine in the TKR squad there is no substitute for experience, while with young guns Nicholas Pooran, Mark Deyal and Keacy Carty in the mix, there is a good blend of youth and expeience.

Another experienced campaigner is Chadwick Walton, who hit a stunning unbeaten 80 in the playoffs against the Warriors
While Martin Guptill is injured, skipper Pollard said at yesterday’s media update at the Pegasus Suites that everyone else is available, including Narine.

`TKR’s win against the Warriors took them directly to the final while the Warriors beat defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs to get to tonight’s heavyweight bout.
It can be debated whether having a break makes TKR fresher or playing another game would have given the Warriors more match practice heading into tonight’s feature event which could not be scripted better from a commercial perspective.

With TKR and Warriors in tonight’s final everyone will win except one of the teams on the field.

Tahir admitted at the media update that the opening pair and finding a partner for Saim Ayub is still a worry.

Ayub and Shai Hope are the only two batters with 400 runs, but both are cautious starters and T20 cricket has evolved where teams score over 70 runs in the six power-play overs.
Guyana used six batters to partner the 22-year-old Ayub at the top and they could ask Shimron Hetmyer, who has had a poor tournament so far or fast bowling all-rounder Romario Shepherd, to open the batting.

Hope could bat at three, Azam Khan, Hetmyer, Dwaine Pretorius, Gudakesh Motie, Junior Sinclair, Ronsford Beaton and Tahir in that order.
Pollard said he was happy with the pitches in Guyana which he felt were good for batting and bowling, and the team that wins the toss would want to field first because of the dew factor, especially with their spinners.

Guyana’s bowling could be spearheaded by Beaton, who regularly clocked ‘140’, Shepherd and Pretorius, while Tahir, who continues to befuddle batters, Motie and Sinclair could utilize any turn from the pitch
Meanwhile, Pollard noted that last year TKR did not have a great season.

“Being able to get to the final now is a big feat for all of our supporters and let’s see what happens tomorrow.

“I am happy with [the] Providence track, it was a good pitch: runs were scored and wickets were taken and crowds came in their numbers and saw good cricket,” said Pollard
“I don’t think we are playing any psychological games. We worry about what TKR have to worry about, so I don’t know what they are thinking about. What I know… it’s another game of cricket and we plan to play good cricket and at the end of day, we will see what happens.”

The TKR skipper said his team is expecting a capacity crowd, most of whom will be supporting the home team and encouraged them to come and be loud and put on a show for the world to see and have a good final.

“We are preparing for a good game and it would be nice if we can lift a fifth trophy …it might be unfortunate for the opposition, which I see right now it does not have an opposition.
“Guyana has been playing good cricket; they have a brilliant young team which could be a long time together and reaping success, but at the end of the day we want to ensure that the trophy is won by TKR,” Pollard informed.

Tahir said that Kemo Paul is a valuable asset to the side and the Warriors will know if he has sufficiently recovered from his injury and is available by this afternoon.