FANTASY
Follow UsAfter 5 days of action in Port of Spain, the Caribbean carnival shifts back to Tarouba for the rest of the tournament. The table-toppers, Trinbago Knight Riders will go up against Jamaica Tallawahs in match 21. The Knight Riders are almost there with 12 points, one win gets them even closer to a play-off qualification. The Tallawahs on the other hand would want a win to stay alive in the tournament.
In any case, the Tallawahs do have a good record against the Knight Riders overall. But, the concern will be their form of late as the Tallawahs have lost 4 on the trot in the last 5 against Trinbago.
HEAD TO HEAD
Overall: Matches – 17 | TKR – 8 Wins | JT – 9 Wins
At venue: Matches – 1 | TKR – 1 Win | JT – 0 Wins
Last 5 Matches: TKR – 4 Wins | JT – 1 Win
SUGGESTED TEAM
While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from cricket.com Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms we come up with six different team that could fetch crucial points.
GROUND DETAILS
This whole season of CPL has belonged to the bowlers, especially the spinners. The spinners have bagged 121 wickets, which is nearly 53% at a bowling average of 18.7 and a balls/dismissal ratio of 18.2.
Considerably, the pitch at Tarouba was better for the batsmen as compared to Port of Spain this season. On an average 147 runs has been scored this season in Tarouba in the 1st innings.
Bowlers have enjoyed early success in Tarouba since 2019 in CPL. The balls/dismissal ratio of 16.9 is the second-best among all venues in this time frame. The bowling average at the venue as well is on the lower side, which suggests the bowlers have picked up wickets for lesser runs.
TEAM COMBINATION
In comparison with Port of Spain, where the spinners dominated, at the Brian Lara Stadium, the pacers have picked up wickets a tad more than the spinners this season. However, in terms of average and balls/dismissal, spinners are still better than pacers.
With bowlers dominating this season at both venues, it would be better to pack the team with bowlers. Both teams have some power-performers, especially in the spin department. With an air of uncertainty over Sunil Narine, he is not being preferred.
The young spinning pair of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane are two of the must-have players without any doubt. Khary Pierre seems to have found his rhythm and he is one of the considerations for another spinner.
Dwayne Bravo who missed out in their previous match is expected to return. He alongside skipper Kieron Pollard and the Tallawahs skipper, Russell could be top picks.
The top order has been a problem for both the teams, for Knight Riders though it has been a bigger problem. But, for Tallawahs, a misfiring top order has been the case since the start of CPL 2020. Still, the likes of Glenn Phillips, Colin Munro and Darren Bravo are preferable choices.
There could be a few interesting match-ups too.
ANDRE RUSSELL vs DWAYNE BRAVO
A lip-smacking contest between two of the best finishers, one with the bat and another with the ball. Russell wins this contest with a strike rate of over 200 and average of over 45 against Bravo.
CARLOS BRATHWAITE vs DWAYNE BRAVO
One more tussle between two finishers. This time it is between Brathwaite and Bravo, but the only difference is, Bravo comes out on top in this battle. In 12 innings, Brathwaite has got out to Bravo on 4 occasions at a lesser average and strike rate.
LENDL SIMMONS vs ANDRE RUSSELL
Russell has done well against the likes of Simmons in T20s. In 18 innings against him, Russell has dismissed him 5 times, which is the joint-most he has dismissed a batsman in T20s. Dwayne Bravo and Shreyas Iyer are the other two batsmen he has dismissed 5 times each.
SUGGESTED CAPTAIN
MUJEEB UR RAHMAN: Almost everyone are struggling to score runs against the mystery spinner from Afghanistan in this CPL. Either they get out trying to score runs or they just see him off until his quota of overs is completed. This is why, he has taken 13 wickets at an economy of 3.9 this season.
His 13 wickets are the most by a bowler in this season. Without any element of doubt, Mujeeb certainly is captaincy material in the fantasy team.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts he would pick 0-3 wickets in Match-21.
X-FACTORS
GLENN PHILLIPS: The Kiwi has scored 1038 runs in CPL since 2018, which is the most by a batsman in this period. This season as well he is the top run-scorer with 207 runs and he has made these runs with consistency. He has scored 34.5 runs every innings, which is the second-most per innings scored by a batsman with 100+ runs this season.
30 runs in every innings means he is consistently fetching points in the fantasy league, which is why he might be one of the biggest X-factors.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts he would score 12-35 runs in Match-21 against the Knight Riders.
SANDEEP LAMICHHANE: Lamichhane alongside Mujeeb has been very effective for the Tallawahs this season. Mujeeb is Tallawahs’ highest wicket-taker and Sandeep is next in line with 9 wickets. His case is similar to Mujeeb, batsmen have struggled to score run against him and that is why he has been one of the most economical bowlers. Moreover, his record against lefties this season has been impressive and Trinbago have a few left-handers at the top for him to exploit.
Our Criclytics player projector predicts Sandeep would pick 0-3 wickets in Match-21 against the Knight Riders.
JAYDEN SEALES: Seales this season has been the highest wicket-taker for Trinbago with 6 wickets. In the 4 innings he has bowled, he hasn’t gone wicket-less. Though his economy is on the higher side, his early striking ability makes up for it. His balls/dismissal ratio of 10.0 is the best among bowlers with 5 or more wickets this season.
His wicket-taking ability is one of the X-factors that could help his selection in the fantasy team.
