BASSETERRE, St Kitts – St Kitts and Nevis will launch the defence of their maiden Caribbean Premier League title when they clash with Jamaica Tallawahs in the opening game of this year’s tournament tomorrow.
The 7 p.m. contest at Warner Park will be preceded by the opening match of the women’s tournament at 3 p.m. when Trinbago Knight Riders Women take on Barbados Royals Women – the recent winners of the inaugural Sixty here last weekend.
After several years of coming up short, Patriots finally put their trophy-less record behind them when they stunned St Lucia Kings in a thrilling final here last year.
And veteran all-rounder and captain Dwayne Bravo said there was now a growing belief among the squad that Patriots could continue to challenge for honours.
“I am very excited. Last season, I made a decision to leave TKR and challenge myself differently and in a different way to keep myself motivated for the game and to try and help others develop their game and their cricket,” Bravo told media on Tuesday.
“I think I made the right decision at the right time and luckily enough last season we won the trophy which gave St Kitts and Nevis Patriots their first ever CPL title.
“A few days ago, [we won the first-ever Sixty tournament] … so it’s a good foundation we’re starting to build and we’re starting to believe as a franchise and as a team that we can also be a dominant force in CPL.
“That’s our challenge and that’s our aim and we’re looking forward to that. We’re looking forward to defending our title.”
He added: “And not only that but we’re looking to play a brand of cricket to entertain the fans and make our franchise owners and the island of St Kitts and Nevis proud.”
Patriots once again feature a strong line up with the likes of Evin Lewis, Andre Fletcher and Sherfane Rutherford spearheading the batting and Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell and Dominic Drakes headlining the bowling attack.
Tallawahs, meanwhile, will be searching for a better performance than last year when they won just four of ten games to finish fifth of six teams and miss out on the playoffs.
They boast West Indies batsmen Rovman Powell and Brandon King, along with international all-rounder Fabian Allen, while Nepalese leg-spinning superstar Sandeep Lamichhane will lead the attack.
“From a team perspective, our preparations are going really well. We’re starting to gel as a unit – I think that was the biggest benefit of the Sixty,” said captain Chris Green.
“You get to play as a team before the tournament starts – those moments where you sort of start finding your feet, where to go, how the team operates.
“We’ve kind of got a little bit of that out the way now and we come into the CPL really excited about what this team can achieve and I think what’s great for the Jamaican franchise is there are a lot of strong local players coming through which I think is exciting.
“I know it makes me proud to be part of a franchise that’s headed in that direction.”
After having finished rock bottom in CPL 2021, the only way for Barbados Royals is up. They have now put together a more dynamic batting line-up that will be led by David Miller, who is perhaps in the form of his life, and Quinton de Kock. Miller also takes over as captain from Jason Holder while Rahkeem Cornwall has joined Royals from Kings.
Pakistan’s Azam Khan, the son of Moin Khan, could slot in as a middle-order pinch-hitter after having obtained an NOC from the PCB. Devon Thomas will likely float in the line-up and will look to push his case as a back-up keeper to Pooran for the forthcoming T20 World Cup. This CPL will also be a vital tournament, in terms of national selection, for legspinner Hayden Walsh Jr. who leaked runs in his recent international outings against New Zealand and India. The advent of impressive, fellow leg-spinner Yannic Cariah into international cricket also puts added pressure on Walsh Jr.
St Lucia Kings have plenty of substance in their batting line-up led by the vastly experienced Faf du Plessis and the in-form Tim David, but the bowling attack appears squishy. They couldn’t hold onto the likes of Obed McCoy and Keemo Paul and they also lack a quality spinner although Roston Chase’s offspin can be handy in slow and low conditions (there is a cloud over his fitness though). So, the onus will be on IPL 2022 winner Alzarri Joseph and CPL 2020 top wicket-taker Scott Kuggeleijn to carry Kings’ attack.
In 2020, when Brendon McCullum was in charge of Knight Riders, he stated that they could be “highly competitive” against any franchise in T20 cricket. This year, Knight Riders have got even stronger with the return of West Indies’ white-ball captain Nicholas Pooran and the inclusion of Andre Russell. Notably, having represented Jamaica Tallwahs for eight years since 2013, this will be the first time that Russell will be in the CPL in colours that aren’t from his home country. And judging by his six sixes in a row in the 6IXTY, he looks in fine form.
The presence of Sunil Narine, captain Kieron Pollard and Colin Munro, the top scorer in the CPL among all overseas players, make Knight Riders a star-studded line-up. However, that alone can’t guarantee success as they found out last season, suffering an early exit after losing the semi-final to St Lucia Kings.
The men’s tournament runs until September 30 and will also be played in St Lucia, Trinidad and Guyana while the women’s edition wraps up next Sunday.
(CMC/Cricinfo)
