The T&T Red Steel will face the Jamaica Tallawahs today in the first knockout of the 2015 Hero CPL T20 tournament at the Queen's Park Oval from 4pm.
Red Steel went into their last preliminary round game against the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Tuesday evening with an excellent chance of making it straight into the finals. However, their batsmen failed and folded for 117 and Warriors took an easy seven-wicket victory. It now means that the Warriors will play against the winners of today's clash on Saturday in the second knockout to determine who meets the Barbados Tridents in the finals on Sunday also at Oval.
Red Steel left Guyana early yesterday morning and it was back to the drawing board, as they look to claim another victory against Jamaica after their win last Sunday.
The advantage Red Steel share going into this match is the fact that they have been playing good cricket at home having won three of their four games this year at the Oval.
However, fellow Trinidadians Denesh Ramdin and Lendl Simmons thinks that the Tallawahs will defeat Red Steel in their backyards and they will face them on Saturday. According to Ramdin :"I think it will be Tallawahs winning this battle because it is going to be very difficult for the guys to defeat Jamaica twice in a row, given the type of dangerous players they possess.
Tallawahs have been in Trinidad since last Friday and while the Red Steel men were jetting off to Guyana, they were hard at practice at the Queen's Park Oval. Any of these teams that are entertaining ambitions of winning the title, will have to win three matches in four days. The Red Steel 'think tank' will be looking to manage their players especially those with niggles here and there. All rounder Jacques Kallis has been fighting some muscle spasms in his back and he is a key man in the Red Steel set-up and it will be taxing on him if the Red Steel goes on to win today.
Another packed house is expected for today's match and Red Steel captain Dwayne Bravo is again calling on the proverbial '12th man' to be there to give his team the advantage.
The weather has not been too kind to cricket in the eastern Caribbean over the last few days and could well play a part in today's game. Checks with the meteorological office reveals that there is a risk of a thunderstorm this evening. If this comes to reality and the match is abandoned, then the Red Steel by virtue of finishing higher than the Tallawahs at the preliminary stage, will go through to meet Guyana.
Teams
T&T Red Steel: Dwayne Bravo (capt), William Perkins, Cameron Delport, Kamran Akmal, Jacques Kallis, Yohan Botha, Darren Bravo, Samuel Badree, Derone Davis, Miguel Cummins, Javon Searles, Jason Mohammed, Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Mark Deyal, Kevon Cooper. Head coach Simon Helmot, assistants David Williams and Imran Jan.
Jamaica Tallawahs: Chris Gayle (capt), Chadwick Walton, Chris Lynn, Mahela Jayawardene, Andre Russell, Jermaine Blackwood, Dave Bernard Jnr, Narsingh Deonarine, Ramaal Lewis, Rusty Theron, Jerome Taylor, Krishma Santokie, Horace Miller, Nikita Miller and Daniel Vettori.