A rampaging Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) will battle an improving St. Kitts Nevis Patriots on Tuesday in what should be a high scoring match at Warner Park, the smallest venue in the 2019 Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament.
TKR are lying second on the six-team standings behind the Guyana Amazon Warriors, although just on net run rate and they will be looking to not only win but start to improve on their own net run rate as it could be the focus at the back end of the tournament.
The format of this CPL keeps the interest in winning efficiently right down to the end, as the team which finishes on top of the round-robin phase is awarded two bites of the cherry in terms of getting into the final through the playoff eliminators.
TKR are fresh from their record 41-run win over the Jamaica Tallawahs at Sabina Park on Friday night, while the Patriots hammered a less than impressive St Lucia Zouks by six wickets at Warner Park on Sunday night.
TKR, however, have lost the services of fast bowler Muhammad Hasnain, who has been called back to Pakistan to play in the domestic Quaid-e-Azam trophy. There still has been no decision as to whether someone else will be drafted into the squad to replace him. In the interim, the fast bowling duties will fall into the hands of Muhammad Ali Khan, who was the star for the TKR in their victorious campaign last season, and Trinidadian Anderson Phillip, who has only played one game so far this season.
But TKR skipper Kieron Pollard is keeping his men real heading into Tuesday's match.
"We have done well so far and this I put down to the hard work of all the players. They have been working since before the tournament started and are playing great cricket. We just want to stick to our plan as much as possible and keep supporting each other," Pollard told Guardian Media on Monday.
"When you win, you want to keep that up and make sure the momentum is not broken and we will be going all out to ensure that we do just that."
TKR won seven of their ten games to top the group last season but lost the first qualifier to the Guyana Amazon Warriors. A 20-run win while defending 165-6 against the Patriots followed before Colin Munro’s unbeaten 68 in the final helped the TKR win a second successive CPL title.
With the picturesque Warner Park venue already featuring in a match that saw 483 runs scored this season, between the Patriots and Jamaica Tallawahs, the might of the big hitters from the TKR, among them Munro, Lendl Simmons and Pollard, could be a major threat Tuesday.
The crowds here continue to be less than impressive and Patriots management will be hoping that the win over the St Lucia Zouks on Sunday and the general all-round improvement will draw a few more to the ground for the match, which starts at 6 pm.
In 12 meetings between the two teams so far in the CPL, TKR have won nine to the Patriots three.
TEAMS
TKR: Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Khary Pierre, Jimmy Neesham, Seekkuge Prasanna, Amir Jangoo, Anderson Phillip, Mark Deyal, Tion Webster, Javon Searles, Akeal Hosein, Ali Khan.
St. Kitts/Nevis Patriots: Alzarri Joseph, Fabian Allen, Evin Lewis, Carlos Brathwaite, Rassie van der Dussen, Laurie Evans, Sheldon Cottrell, Devon Thomas, Rayad Emrit, Shamarh Brooks, Jeremiah Louis, Dominic Drakes, Afif Hossain, Keron Cottoy, Akeem Jordan, Usama Mir, Aaron Jones, Mohammad Hafeez, Jason Mohammed, Kjorn Otley
TEAMS
TKR: Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Denesh Ramdin, Darren Bravo, Lendl Simmons, Khary Pierre, Jimmy Neesham, Seekkuge Prasanna, Amir Jangoo, Anderson Phillip, Mark Deyal, Tion Webster, Javon Searles, Akeal Hosein, Ali Khan.
St. Kitts/Nevis Patriots: Alzarri Joseph, Fabian Allen, Evin Lewis, Carlos Brathwaite, Rassie van der Dussen, Laurie Evans, Sheldon Cottrell, Devon Thomas, Rayad Emrit, Shamarh Brooks, Jeremiah Louis, Dominic Drakes, Afif Hossain, Keron Cottoy, Akeem Jordan, Usama Mir, Aaron Jones, Mohammad Hafeez, Jason Mohammed, Kjorn Otley
TKR VS PATRIOTS HEAD TO HEAD
2015 - TKR won by 6 wkts
2015 - TKR won by 11 runs
2016 - Patriots won by runs 34 runs
2016 - TKR won by 8 wkts
2017 - TKR won by 4 wkts
2017 - TKR won by D/L Method
2017 - Patriots won by 38 runs
2017 - TKR won by 3 wkts
2018 - Patriots won by 42 runs
2018 - TKR won by 46 runs
2018 - TKR won by 20 runs
2019 - TKR won by 11 runs