CPL 2020: Match 27, Trinbago Knight Riders vs St Lucia Zouks - Preview, Live Streaming, Timings, Predicted XI, Stats, Pitch Report & more

The 27th match of the CPL 2020 is scheduled between the Trinbago Knight Riders and St Lucia Zouks on 5th September, at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Trinidad. The tournament is nearing the end of the league stage and the teams that have qualified have been ascertained after the results of the last two encounters.

The Trinbago Knight Riders have been on a ridiculous roll as they have scripted 8 wins from 8 matches and are placed right at the summit of the tally with a whopping 16 points. In this match, they are coming after badly thrashing the bottom-placed and now-eliminated St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. Dwayne Bravo’s boys racked up 174 runs at the loss of 4 wickets; quite a high score by this year’s CPL standards, courtesy a scintillating show by Lendl Simmons, who missed out a deserving century by only 4 runs.

Coming to defend the total, the Riders’ bowling unit suffocated the Patriots straight up as Akeal Hossain, Khary Pierre, and Pravin Tambe bagged a wicket apiece, whereas Sikandar Raza ran through their lower order and finished with 3 for 15 in his 3 overs. The Patriots could only manage 115 as the Riders registered another easy and big win by 59 runs.

On the other hand, St Lucia Zouks have had a brilliant season as well and they are seated at the 3rd spot in the tally with 5 victories and 3 defeats in their 8 league matches thus far. Despite a good run, in this match, the Zouks are coming after taking a beating by the Guyana Amazon Warriors. Their batting unit failed to apply themselves and they were restricted to an extremely low score of 109 for 7.

The Zouks’ bowling unit could have backed themselves as they defended a total much smaller (92) than this match, however, their bowlers completely surrendered in front of Shimron Hetmyer’s effort as the Warriors chased 110 in merely 13.5 overs. With the top four fixed, the remaining encounters are all about rectifying the mistakes committed in the past and polishing the team before entering the decisive stage.

Pitch and conditions

In the last few days, there has been a growing trend of totals being defended and the teams batting first have been winning. Therefore, especially in day games, the chasing template might be changed. The spinners will get assistance in heaps again as has been seen in every match ever since the start of this year.

Playing combination

Trinbago Knight Riders

Lendl Simmons looked in smoking hot form during his blitzkrieg of 96 runs off merely 63 deliveries and he would want to continue hitting well with the next stage round the corner. Colin Munro, however, did not make much of an impact in the last game, although he has been brilliant otherwise. The showman Sunil Narine and his abilities are known to all. He was rested in the last game but is expected to play tonight.

Tim Seifert has played a decent role in the middle-order alongside Darren Bravo and Kieron Pollard. The latter was slightly off-color at the start but has found his rhythm well after a couple of blistering knocks. Dwayne Bravo has been in the wickets but has not contributed much with the bat.

Akeal Hosein and Khary Pierre have bowled with great control and they both have been taking wickets for the team. The pick of the bowlers in the last game, however, was Sikandar Raza, who claimed 3 wickets at a magnificent economy. Pravin Tambe, after a good outing in the last game, is also expected to be in the eleven.

Predicted XI- Lendl Simmons, Colin Munro, Sunil Narine/Amir Jangoo, Tim Seifert (WK), Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard (C), Dwayne Bravo, Akeal Hosein, Khary Pierre, Sikandar Raza, Pravin Tambe,

Bench- Fawad Ahmed, Jayden Seales, Anderson Philip, M Ali Khan

St Lucia Zouks

Openers Rahkeem Cornwall and Andre Fletcher have a reputation of hitting big but they have not quite lived up to that this year and have thrown their wickets after getting starts. Leniko Boucher has not been able to display much at No. 3, however, he should continue to be there.

The main men for the Zouks have been in the middle-order where Roston Chase, Najibullah Zadran, and Mohammad Nabi have consistently contributed with runs and Chase and Nabi with the ball too. Javelle Glenn was not given game time earlier but ever since his inclusion, he has been decent. In the last game, he ended as the highest scorer and took a wicket with the ball.

Skipper Darren Sammy has not contributed a lot and would look to make some before the next stage arrives. Both Scott Kuggeleijn and Kesrick Williams have been bagging wickets continuously and will look to repeat the same with the same force. After an expensive outing last time, Chemar Holder might miss out and either Zahir Khan or Obed McCoy can be expected to play.

Predicted XI- Rahkeem Cornwall, Andre Fletcher (WK), Leniko Boucher, Roston Chase, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Javelle Glenn, Darren Sammy (C), Scott Kuggeleijn, Kesrick Williams, Zahir Khan/Obed McCoy.

Bench- Saad Bin Zafar, Kavem Hodge, Zaheer Khan/Obed McCoy, Chemar Holder, Kimani Melius, Mark Deyal

Head to head

Matches Played- 15 | Trinbago Knight Riders Won- 11 | St Lucia Zouks Won- 2 | NR- 2

Broadcast Details

Match Timings- 7:30 PM (IST), 10:00 AM (Local).

TV– Star Sports 1, Star Sports 2, Star Sports 1 Hindi, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 2 HD, and Star Sports 1 HD Hindi.

Live Streaming– The match can be streamed online on Fancode.