– Rested Warriors favourites to reach finals

By Clifton Ross

 THE stage has been set for the final four teams, arguably the best of the best who, for the last time, will face off against one another in a bid to secure the two final-place spots and secure this year’s Hero CPL title.

Penultimate rounds of any tournament are perhaps the most tense and crucial stages prior to the final

This season, the bubble saw the best four franchises clawing and battling their way to the semis, with tournament hosts Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) destroying the competition by winning all 10 of their preliminary matches; with relative ease.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW), the most popular franchise in CPL history to not win a championship, had a mixed start to the tournament before turning up the heat in the latter stages; even being responsible for knocking out the-then defending champs, Barbados Tridents.

Darren Sammy’s comeback to competitive cricket has been exceptional from a team’s perspective as St Lucia Zouks have played with much bravery and success this year, maintaining a solid position on the points table throughout the initial rounds, although minus ‘T20 Universe Boss’ Chris Gayle.

Jamaica Tallawahs, led by Rovman Powell will want to enjoy the tag of once again being called CPL champions and their fighting-spirt will once again be tested come today when the most important battle gets underway.

 ZOUKS VS WARRIORS

This match will most certainly be the tie-breaker, as both sides have managed to secure victories during the early stages, with GAW winning the last encounter handsomely by 7 wickets. GAW will be keen on utilising the form of their bowlers who have been instrumental in their success during crunch stages of a match.

Imran Tahir will be the key for Warriors as Tallawahs in their last game against Zouks, unleashed their spin barrage to upset Powell and company.

Class spinners like Mohammad Nabi, Zahir Khan, 22-year-old Javelle Glenn, who has been quietly becoming a menace, even grabbing 3-16 in the last game; will be responsible for at least 12 of the overs.

Veterans like Kesrick Williams and Obed McCoy will also have their role on the big stage in the seam bowling department.

Tahir, Naveen ul Haq, skipper Chris Green and the dynamic Kevin Sinclair (who should play again), along with Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd, will be a lot for the scratchy Zouks batting order.

The batting on both sides has been circumspect if not questionable at times. Warriors have recovered tremendously from their batting woes thanks to Shimron Hetmyer, the tourney’s leading run-scorer and they have managed to see some fireworks from the enforcer Nick Pooran who blasted the tourney’s fastest ton.

Ross Taylor has yet to reach 30 so far, but his contributions of 20-odd scores which he has been providing have played a big part in Warriors getting over the line.

All eyes will be on Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj, two West Indies batsmen who have had mixed fortunes this season, with the left-hander Hemraj having more to prove come today.

Rakeem Cornwall and Andre Fletcher have also been victims of international misfortune. As Zouks openers they have yet to use their West Indies experience to fully get things going, but could pick today to go berserk.

The main weapon for Sammy is Afghan power-hitter Najibullah Zadran, who has been the X-factor down the order as well as his countryman Nabi, another decorated lower-order power-hitter.

Sammy himself has been cold but his reputation as a late-hitting game-changer might be put to the test today in this must-win encounter.

 TKR vs TALLAWAHS

While the unbeaten hosts will not be taking the Tallawahs lightly, they will, however, fancy this encounter today, especially after the Zouks’ spin attack bamboozled them a few days ago.

Kieron Pollard has been the best captain on show this season and his T20 know-how has rubbed off on his teammates, as they have been phenomenal this year.

Apart from their highly-volatile batting order which consists of Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Colin Munro, Tion Webster, Sunil Narine and Pollard, all who have been in cracking form this season, Powell and company will have to contend with the Riders’ bowling unit.

Led by Fawad Ahmed, their leading wicket-taker with 10 scalps, TKR have been beating teams by utilising their wide-array of bowling options, both spin and pace. Narine, Akeal Hosein. Kharry Pierre, Zimbabwean Sikandar Raza and other pieces have been overworking the opposition batsman.

Seamers Ali Khan and Anderson Phillips, along with the veterans Pollard and Bravo, have been decent but deprived of wickets thanks to the spinners.

Tallawahs have a shot to upset TKR and put an end to all their hard work, should they check all the boxes. Glenn Phillips maintained his spot in the top 3 run-getters charts and will play a big role today along with Andre Russell. TKR will be weary of him.

Powell, Jermaine Blackwood and Nkrumah Bonner will have important roles with the bat come today while all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite will have to double his responsibility. Should Tallawahs use their bowlers wisely, the likes of Mujeeb Ur Rahman, (2nd on the wicket-taker’s list behind Tahir), Sandeep Lamichhane and Veerasammy Permaul have important spells on their hands.

Rearguard Fidel Edwards and the young bullish Oshane Thomas, along with Brathwaite will lead the pace attack against familiar names on the TKR batting line-up.

Regardless of the outcome, today’s semi-final double-header at Brian Lara Academy, which bowls off with TKR versus Tallawahs starting at 10:00hrs followed by the Warriors/Zouks clash under lights, will set the stage for new champions come Thursday.