Jamaica Tallawahs will lock horns with St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the 16th game of the 2019 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at their homeground, Sabina Park, Kingston. Tallawahs, who finished third in the points table in the previous edition of the tournament are struggling to get going this season with only one victory in six games. On the other hand, Patriots, have won their last two games to put themselves in a more comfortable position, at the third spot in the table.

Tallawahs and Patriots have come up against each other on 10 occasions previously, sharing the honours with five wins each. The last encounter between the two sides saw a high scoring contest in the seventh game of the season where Patriots chased down a humongous total of 241 with an over to spare. 

With an average batting run-rate of 8.94 runs per over in the four games played here, Sabina Park in Kingston has been the most batting friendly venue in the tournament so far. The venue has been witness to the highest team total in CPL history when Trinbago Knight Riders belted 267 for two against Tallawahs on Friday (September 13). In reply, the Tallawahs scored 226 for five, resulting in the highest number of runs scored in a CPL game (493). 

However, the previous game at the venue saw a low scoring affair where Tallawahs chased down a target of 141 to register their sole victory in the tournament. But going by the general trend, the contest is expected to be another deathbed for the bowlers. Hence, a batting heavy side is recommended to gain big out of this fixture. 

Chris Gayle: A T20 messiah, Chris Gayle cannot be ignored as a potential captain in any T20 game. Gayle scored a ton the last time he faced the Patriots, bludgeoning 116 off only 62 balls with the help of 10 maximums. Since then, he has failed to set the stage on fire but scores of 39 and 22 in between suggests he is still in good touch. Moreover, the T20 veteran boasts a batting average of 62 against the Patriots, his highest against any opponent in the tournament history.

Evin Lewis: Chris Gayle’s opening partner in ODI cricket, Evin Lewis has been amongst the most prolific batsmen in CPL 2019. The southpaw’s tally of 220 runs is only behind Lendl Simmons (268). His strike-rate of 177.4 is the third best amongst batsmen who have scored over 100 runs in the season as yet. But the stat that really speaks for Lewis’ blistering form is his false-shot percentage which is the lowest amongst the batsmen who have amassed over 200 runs in the ongoing season.

Not to forget, the Tallawahs have been the most expensive bowling line-up in the season leaking at 10.6 runs per over. Lewis, in this form will enjoy a bowling attack short of confidence and we saw a hint of it when the left-hander set up a record run chase of 241 runs for Patriots with an explosive knock of 53 runs from 18 balls.

Carlos Brathwaite: The Patriots’ skipper was going through a dull season in CPL 2019 until the last game where he put up a man-of-the-match award winning performance in one of the most astonishing games of the season. Brathwaite picked two wickets in the game, one each in the tougher phases of the innings for a bowler - the powerplay and the death. He later hammered 64 runs off 30 deliveries at a strike-rate in excess of 200 including four sixes. Brathwaite’s all-round abilities make him an asset in the Fantasy gamebase. He has bowled 21 overs in this CPL season, the joint second-most number of overs along with Alzarri Joseph which expands his scope of earning points for your team by taking wickets.

Glenn Phillips: New Zealand’s wicket-keeping batsman became an integral part of Tallawahs’ lineup after notching up 457 runs at an average of 41.5 in the previous CPL edition. After a slow start to his tournament this year, Phillips has picked up with scores like 58, 62, 28 and 40 in his last four innings. The right-hander has a strike-rate of 167 against pacers (as compared to 113.7 against spinners) which can help him tackle the Patriots’ pacers while opening the innings.

Fabian Allen: Allen played a key part in Patriots’ victory over Tallawahs in the last encounter between the two sides. He showed his all-round abilities by scalping two for 30 with the ball and then playing a quickfire knock of 37 runs from 15 balls. He has struggled in other games with the ball but a batting strike-rate of 167.5 to complement an average of 25.8 makes him a crucial part of the XI.     

Scattered showers are expected in Jamaica on gameday but forecast does not seem to be too alarming to have an impact on the game.

Evin Lewis (vc), Chris Gayle (c), Glenn Phillips, Laurie Evans, Shamarh Brooks, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Fabian Allen, Rayad Emrit, Ramaal Lewis, Zahir Khan