CPL 2018: Match 21, Match Prediction- Who will win the match, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots or St Lucia Stars?

St Lucia Stars, with two wins from eight matches, have a slender chance of progressing to the playoffs of this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Their next match is against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and another defeat would show them the door of elimination from the tournament. They have chopped and changed their lineup on a number of instances and would be hoping to keep their hopes alive.

The Patriots, on the contrary, haven’t had the smoothest of rides in the event and are precariously placed in the fourth position of the points table. Chris Gayle’s men lost their last match against Guyana Amazon Warriors by four wickets at the same venue. They also have the chance to move to the second position if they manage to beat their rivals by a fair margin in St Kitts.

Pitch

The pitch at Warner Park, Basseterre, St Kitts assisted both the batsmen and the bowlers in the last match. It’s not expected to alter a whole lot and another crackerjack of a match can be speculated. Teams can opt to bowl first after winning the toss. Both sides have a strong lineup on paper and the bowlers won’t have much room for error.

Team Combination

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots

The Patriots are likely to stick to their same eleven Hayden Walsh who replaced Sandeep Lamichhane, will be persisted with. Evin Lewis and Chris Gayle are the openers with Brandon King to follow. The overseas players in Mahmudullah and Tom Cooper need to come to the party. Ben Cutting, Carlos Brathwaite, and the others also need to come to the party.

Predicted XI

Chris Gayle (C), Evin Lewis, Brandon King, Devon Thomas (wk), Tom Cooper, Anton Devcich, Mahmudullah, Ben Cutting, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Hayden Walsh

St Lucia Stars

The Stars, despite the defeat against Jamaica Tallawahs, won’t change their lineup. Mark Chapman will be given one more opportunity to score as the opener. David Warner, Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons coming in the middle-order worked well for them. The onus will mostly be on Mitchell McClenaghan, Kesrick Williams and Qais Ahmad to step up and perform.

Predicted XI

Mark Chapman, Andre Fletcher (wk), Rakheem Cornwall, David Warner, Kieron Pollard (C), Lendl Simmons, Darren Sammy, Qais Ahmad, Mitchell McClenaghan, Kesrick Williams, Obed McCoy

Probable top performers

Chris Gayle- St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Andre Fletcher- St Lucia Stars

The prediction is for St Lucia Stars to win the match.