FANTASY
Follow UsAnother double header day and the first match will be between two-time champions Jamaica Tallawahs and St Lucia Zouks in Tarouba. The Tallawahs have had the upper hand over the Zouks in CPL in the 13 matches they have played. However, in the last 5 matches, the Zouks have had the edge having won three encounters. A spicy contest awaits us at the Brian Lara Stadium.
HEAD TO HEAD
Overall: Matches – 13 | JT – 8 Wins | SLZ – 5 Wins
Last 5 matches: JT – 3 Wins | SLZ – 2 Wins
SUGGESTED TEAMS
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms we come up with six different teams that could fetch crucial points.
GROUND DETAILS
Since 2017 in CPL, Brian Lara Stadium has hosted 8 matches in which teams batting 1st and bowling 1st have won 4 matches apiece.
It has been one of the better bowling venues around the Caribbean in the recent past. Bowlers have managed a wicket every 17.1 balls here in CPL matches since 2017 with batsmen averaging only 22.2 runs/wicket.
A bowling heavy setup should be the way to go for matches played at this venue.
TEAM COMBINATION
While pacers have been slightly better at this venue in terms of bowling strike rate and wickets taken in CPL since 2017, spinners haven’t been too bad either.
In 16 innings at the Brian Lara Stadium since 2017, pacers have returned 58 wickets striking every 17.9 balls whereas the spinners have picked up 43 wickets striking every 19.2 deliveries.
All the above numbers are from before the opening day fixtures which will be held at the same ground.
Jamaica is a complete package with powerful allrounders, young spinners and a couple of exciting top-order batsmen. On the other hand, Zouks are a touch reliant on their bowlers.
You could go for Glenn Phillips and Rovman Powell in your side. As for allrounders, there’s no question, Andre Russell and Mohammad Nabi are the obvious choices.
The young spin combination of Sandeep Lamichhane and Mujeeb-ur-Rahman could be ideal for the surface while Oshane Thomas and Kesrick Williams could be your two pacers.
There could be a few interesting match-ups too.
Who doesn’t remember the feisty contest between Walton and Williams. The medium-pacer dismissed Walton once and the aftermath was horrendous for Williams. In the 5 innings, Walton has scored over 50 runs at a strike rate of 225.9.
Mohammad Nabi has had the better of Walton in T20s. In the 5 innings Walton has faced Nabi, he has a strike rate of less than 100. Nabi has dismissed him twice in those 5 innings.
In the battle between the two Afghans, Nabi and Mujeeb, the experienced Nabi has an upper hand. In the 7 innings he has faced the young mystery spinner, he has scored at a strike rate of 211.5 and has been dismissed only once.
CAPTAIN SELECTION
The swashbuckling allrounder Andre Russell is our choice of captain. Russell in T20s since 2018 has scored 1883 runs at a strike rate of 185 and an average of 34.2. He has also picked up 82 wickets at a balls/dismissal ratio of 18.0 in this time frame to go with that. He is also a gun fielder and is truly worth his weight in gold in T20s. Russell has taken a liking to the Zouks as well in the past, having scored over 100 runs at a strike rate of 189. He has picked up 9 wickets against them as well.
X-FACTORS
Our first X-Factor Glenn Phillips has been the most successful batsman in CPL since 2018. A revelation in the tournament, especially in the last two seasons, Phillips has scored 831 runs since 2018 the most by any batsman in the time frame. His record against the Zouks has also been good as he has scored 209 runs in the 6 innings played against them in CPL. He has those runs at a strike rate of 157.1, which suggests he is one of the vital selections in the fantasy team.
Andre Fletcher has been of the most successive batsmen for Zouks in CPL since 2018. His record against the Tallawahs has also been excellent. The batsman has scored 476 runs against them in CPL with an average of 47.6 and a strike rate of 128.7. His 476 runs are the most he has scored against a team in CPL. There is no element of doubt that he should be one of the top picks in the fantasy team.
The young leg-spin sensation from Nepal, Sandeep Lamichhane has a good record against the Tallawahs in CPL. He has bowled in three innings against the Tallawahs in CPL and has bagged 5 wickets at an economy of 6.1 and balls/dismissal ratio of 14.4. Since 2018, the leggie is one of the 6 bowlers to bag 100 wickets in T20s. He has achieved that with an average of 18.3 and a balls/dismissal ratio of 15.9
