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The Caribbean Premier League returns for its sixth season and is scheduled to run from August 8 till September 16, 2018. Just like the previous edition, the tournament will feature six country-based franchises - Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, St Lucia Stars and Trinbago Knight Riders.
Format: Each team will play every other team twice in a double round-robin fashion before the knockout stage which will consist of two qualifiers, an eliminator and the final. The fixtures will be played across seven different countries including the United States of America where 3 of the 34 games are set to be played.
New Rules: In July 2018, two changes to the playing conditions were announced for the tournament. The first was a penalty to a team's net run rate for failing to bowl their overs in the given time. This rule could significantly affect the teams' chances of moving ahead in the tournament. According to this rule, if a team failed to complete their overs within the allotted time frame then, as a penalty, 0.05 points will be deducted from their NRR. While for every additional over, the teams will face a supplementary deduction of 0.10 points from the net run rate. The maximum time allowed for completing the twenty overs is 85 minutes plus the additional time allotted by the umpires in certain circumstances such as rain or unexpected delays.
The second change was the introduction of a coin toss, to determine who will bat first if a Super Over is needed to decide the result of the match. Currently, the team which batted second in a tied match, automatically become eligible to bat first in the super over.
St Lucia Stars
St Lucia have not had much success so far in the Caribbean Premier League and they have managed to go through to the playoffs just once in the five seasons. The Stars had a horrendous season last year when they failed to win a single game and were the first of all the teams in the competition to get knocked out. That was their worst performance in the history of the CPL and they will be hoping for a much better result this time. In a major change, Kieron Pollard has replaced Darren Sammy as skipper of the St Lucia Stars for this year.
With the bat, Lendl Simmons with 17 half-centuries is the leading run-getter in the CPL and he could open the batting alongside David Warner, who is coming on the back of successful GT20 campaign. While Andre Fletcher, who scored the most runs for the Stars last time is expected to boost the middle-order batting along with skipper Koee on Pollard.
With the ball, Stars have formed a good unit this year with the likes Mitchell McClenaghan, Kesrick Williams, Dasun Shanaka and Mohammad Sami. Williams has 25 wickets in 15 T20 internationals, While Mohammad Sami is one of most destructive bowlers in T20 and both of them will be key for the stars.
Complete Squad: Kieron Pollard (C), Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Mohammad Sami, Andre Fletcher, Mitchell McClenaghan, Kesrick Williams, Niroshan Dickwella, Rahkeem Cornwall, Qais Ahmad, Kavem Hodge, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Dasun Shanaka, Christopher Lamont, Obed McCoy, Odean Smith, Jaskaran Malhotra and David Warner.
Barbados Tridents
In the previous edition, Tridents could win just four out of their ten matches and finished their disappointing campaign on the fifth spot at points table.
For this season, Barbados have named 18 men squad and Jason Holder will lead them in this year's CPL. The team has lost Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib al Hasan who is now unavailable for the entire season. Australia's Steven Smith, currently the world number one Test batsman, has been included in the squad as a replacement for Shakib.
With the bat, Barbados Tridents will rely mainly on the likes of Steven Smith, Hashim Amla, Martin Guptill and Dwayne Smith. Steven Smith is coming off a good Global T20 Canada and he can be a big thorn in the opposition's flesh if not dismissed early on. While Amla has the ability to thrash any lineup and is leading run-scorer for South Africa.
With the ball, Wahab Riaz was one of their best performers with the ball last time and he along with skipper Jason Holder will have the responsibility to get early breakthroughs for the team.
Complete Squad: Jason Holder (C), Martin Guptill, Hashim Amla, Dwayne Smith, Nicholas Pooran, Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse, Roston Chase, Shai Hope, Tion Webster, Imran Khan, Shamar Springer, Sunny Sohal, Chemar Holder, Dominic Drakes and Steven Smith.
Guyana Amazon Warriors
Guyana are one of the most consistent teams in the tournament having qualified for the playoffs in each of the previous five editions. Last year, the Warriors finished fourth on the points table after the league stage with five wins and as many losses. They beat Jamaica Tallawahs convincingly in the eliminator but could not overcome Trinbago Knight Riders in the second qualifier. Warriors named Shoaib Malik as captain of the side for this CPL season.
With the bat, Chadwick Walton topped the runs charts with 458 runs which included three half-centuries in the previous season. While in middle order they will rely mainly on Luke Ronchi, Shoaib Malik and Jason Mohammed performances.
With the ball, Sohail Tanvir who was the tournament's leading wicket-taker in the last season will be the go-to man for Guyana. While Rayad Emrit is third on the CPL's wickets charts with 85 wickets in 67 matches and he is expected to trouble the batsmen this year as well.
Complete Squad: Shoaib Malik (C), Sohail Tanvir, Chadwick Walton, Cameron Delport, Rayad Emrit, Imran Tahir, Jason Mohammed, Luke Ronchi, Veerasammy Permaul, Roshon Primus, Shimron Hetmyer, Devendra Bishoo, Gajanand Singh, Sherfane Rutherford, Romario Shepherd, Keemo Paul, Saurabh Netravalkar and Akshaya Persaud.
Jamaica Tallawahs
Jamaica are one of the most successful teams of the Caribbean Premier League. The Tallawahs have never even once failed to make it past the league stage. They won six out of ten league matches last year and finished third in the standings. However, their campaign was brought to an end with a five-wicket loss to Guyana Amazon Warriors in the eliminator. They have named Andre Russell as captain of the side for CPL 2018.
With the bat, Johnson Charles is among the top ten batsmen in the league and has hit 11 fifties in the tournament. While their hopes of reaching the playoffs will once again be boosted by the likes of David Miller, Ross Taylor and Andre Russell, who has the ability to thrash any bowling lineup.
With the ball, Krishmar Santokie is currently the tournament's best bowler with 115 wickets in 72 matches and he is going to be the go-to man in the team's bowling attack. While Kemar Roach and Samuel Badree are other key figures in the team.
Complete Squad: Andre Russell (C), Shahid Afridi, Imad Wasim, David Miller, Ross Taylor, Rovman Powell, Samuel Badree, Kemar Roach, Glenn Phillips, Andre McCarthy, Krishmar Santokie, Johnson Charles, Steven Taylor, Kennar Lewis, Steven Jacobs, Oshane Thomas, Kirstan Kallicharan and Elmore Hutchinson.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriot
St Kitts made their first appearance in the CPL in the 2015 edition. Patriots came second in the standings after the league round with six wins and three defeats. They then went on to beat Trinbago Knight Riders by 38 runs in the first qualifier to set to up a rematch with them in the final which they ended up losing by three wickets to finish runners-up in CPL 2017. After a successful campaign last year, skipper Chris Gayle will continue to lead the side this year as well.
With the bat, The onus will be on Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis to take the team off to a flyer. Both were amongst the tournament's leading run-scorers last year with 376 and 371 runs respectively. While Allrounders Carlos Brathwaite and Ben Cutting will be their key men in middle order and their performances might be the deciding factor in the tournament.
With the ball, Sheldon Cottrell was the most impressive bowler for the Patriots last time with 11 wickets in 6 matches. While Nepal sensation Sandeep Lamichhane is expected to make his debut. Except them, the main responsibility will be Graeme Creamer and Alzarri Joseph to slow down the run rate.
Complete Squad : Chris Gayle (C), Evin Lewis, Ben Cutting, Carlos Brathwaite, Mahmudullah, Tom Cooper, Sheldon Cottrell, Brandon King, Devon Thomas, Graeme Cremer, Fabian Allen, Shamarh Brooks, Sandeep Lamichhane, Jeremiah Louis, Alzarri Joseph, Ibrahim Khaleel, Javelle Glen, Anton Devcich and Tabraiz Shamsi.
Trinbago Knight Riders
Trinbago are one of the strongest contenders for this year's title. In the previous season, the Knight Riders topped the league standings with eight wins from ten matches before going on to claim CPL 2017 title. They edged out St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by three wickets in last year's final. Skipper Dwayne Bravo will once again lead the side.
With the bat, Colin Munro was among the top five batsmen last year with 366 runs and Brendon McCullum was not too far behind him with 335 runs. While Chris Lynn on his day he can single-handedly win matches for his side.
With the ball, Dwayne Bravo is the second-best bowler in the CPL with 105 wickets in 77 matches. While the Knight Riders will also bank on the likes of Sunil Narine, Shannon Gabriel and Shadab Khan to do the job with the ball.
Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders start their 2018 Caribbean Premier League campaign against the team who finished bottom in last year's points table, St Lucia Stars on August 8.
Complete Squad: Dwayne Bravo (c), Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Brendon McCullum, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Colin Munro, Khary Pierre, Javon Searles, Kevon Cooper, Nikita Miller, Anderson Phillip, Hamza Tariq, Amir Jangoo, Shannon Gabriel, Fawad Ahmed and Ali Khan.
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