Caribbean Premier League T20, Trinbago Knight Riders vs St. Lucia Zouks: Match Preview, Pitch Report, Playing XI and Key Players

With 2 wins in 2 matches, the defending champions, Trinbago Knight Riders have kicked off their Caribbean Premier League 2019 campaign on a fantastic note. Kieron Pollard's men face the St. Lucia Zouks next, who are coming off the back of a defeat to the Guyana Amazon Warriors.

The Zouks face a stiff challenge outwitting the Trinidad and Tobago-based franchise at their home venue, especially considering the latter has already tamed the Patriots and the Tallawahs at the Queen's Park Oval.

Sunil Narine and James Neesham have been the stars for the Knight Riders while in the previous match, youngster Tion Webster played a whirlwind knock of 66 runs.

On the other side, the Zouks will hope that the likes of Andre Fletcher, Thisara Perera and Darren Sammy get into their groove and improve the team's performance. A lot of big hitters will be in action tonight and that could lead to an enjoyable contest.

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Match details

Date: 8th September 2019 (Sunday)

Time: 09:30 PM (India), 12:00 PM (Local)

Venue: Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad

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Weather report

Since this is a day game, the rain gods are not expected to interfere with weather predictions stating that the sun would shine for the entire course of the match.

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Pitch report

The batsmen have enjoyed batting on the wicket at the Queen's Park Oval and with the match taking place in the afternoon, one can expect another batsman-friendly pitch, which offers little assistance to the spinners.

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Trinbago Knight Riders

Tion Webster

A clinical performance against the Jamaica Tallawahs would not tempt Kieron Pollard to make any changes in the match squad.

Batting

Key Players - Tion Webster, Sunil Narine and Kieron Pollard

Lendl Simmons is yet to bring his A-game to the table but the partnership of Tion Webster and Narine have delivered the goods for the Knight Riders so far. The duo will try to continue their fine form in this fixture while Pollard would also look to get some runs under his belt, just like the first two matches.

Bowling

Key Players - Sunil Narine, James Neesham and Seekkuge Prasanna

Narine and Neesham have scalped wickets at regular intervals for the Trinbago Knight Riders and in the previous game, Sri Lankan spinner Prasanna supported them with an economic spell. These three bowlers will be key to the Knight Riders' fortunes again.

Predicted Playing XI

Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons, Tion Webster, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kieron Pollard (C), Jimmy Neesham, Javon Searles, Seekkuge Prassana, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip, Mohammad Hasnain

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St. Lucia Zouks

Rahkeem Cornwall

After a 13-run loss against the Guyana Amazon Warriors, Sammy and co. would look to bring their campaign back on track against the Knight Riders.

Batting

Key Players - Rahkeem Cornwall, Najibullah Zadran and Andre Fletcher

If the Zouks want to give Trinbago Knight Riders a run for their money, the trio of Cornwall, Zadran and Fletcher needs to come out all guns blazing. A lot will rely on the performance of the opening duo as they will have the responsibility of setting the tone for the rest of the innings

Bowling

Key Players - Obed McCoy, Fawad Ahmed and Kesrick Williams

Obed McCoy's 4-wicket haul in the previous match went in vain as he wasn't accorded enough support. However, he would expect Ahmed and Williams to give a better account of themseleves this time so that the bowling attack can nullify the Knight Riders' batting threat.

Predicted Playing XI

Andre Fletcher (wk), Rahkeem Cornwall, Andre McCarthy, Najibullah Zadran, Darren Sammy (C), Christopher Barnwell, Thisara Perera, Obed McCoy, Fawad Ahmed, Krishmar Santokie, Kesrick Williams.

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