TKR vs SNP Match Preview
The Trinbago Knight Riders are the most successful franchise in the history of CPL, winning the title in 4 of the 10 seasons played so far. However, they had a terrible run in the last season as they finished at the bottom of the points table with just 3 wins in the 10 group stage matches.
Skipper Kieron Pollard will be eager to turn things around this time and will look to begin the fresh campaign with a win. He has one of the strongest teams at his disposal, which is quite heavy on domestic talent. The Knight Riders have managed to retain some of their best players from the last season, including Sunil Narine, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Akeal Hosein, and Jayden Seales.
While Narine and Andre Russell aren’t in the best of forms in recent times, they will be invaluable as bowlers and also as all-rounders. Nicholas Pooran is in red-hot form and has played some excellent cricket in T20 franchises around the world as well as in international matches. They have also traded in Dwayne Bravo, who brings in plenty of experience, and Mark Deyal, who is an uncapped all-rounder.
The Knight Riders are a bit short on international talent as the likes of Martin Guptill and Rilee Rossouw haven’t done well recently. Matheesha Pathirana is likely to be unavailable for this match due to LPL commitments, and the same will be the case for Noor Ahmad.
The St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots won the CPL title during the 2021 season but finished 5th on the points table last season. They too will be eager to bounce back and make amends.
St. Kitts’ strong batting line-up has suddenly been left a bit weakened as two of their star batsmen, Tristan Stubbs and Dewald Brevis have been called up for international duties. However, the team has roped in Ambati Rayudu to add some heft to the middle order.
Andre Fletcher was the top-scorer for the team last season and will open the batting with Evin Lewis. St. Kitts will also battle with the loss of Dwayne Bravo and rely on Sherfane Rutherford and George Linde to perform all-round duties.
Sheldon Cottrell is the most experienced seamer on the squad and will lead the pace attack. He will have the support of Oshane Thomas and Dominic Drakes, while Yannic Cariah and Izharulhaq Naveed are the two quality spinners.
Weather Report
It has been raining throughout this week at Gros Islet and Saturday is expected to be no different. The skies are predicted to remain overcast and there are high chances of rain, which can lead to some delays or even a shortened fixture. If the DLS does come into play, it is usually helpful to the chasing teams so that is something that the punters must take into account while placing their bets.
Pitch Report
The Daren Sammy Stadium has hosted 2 matches this season and both of them were won by the team batting first. There is a good amount of pace and bounce on offer in the first innings and the batsmen will have no problems in dispatching the ball towards the boundary.
However, the pitch does become a bit sluggish in the second half, helping the spinners.
Notable stats
Evin Lewis’ Excellent Batting
Evin Lewis is by far the most successful batsman in the St. Kitts and Nevis line-up. He has scored 2025 runs in his CPL career at an average of 27.36 and a brilliant strike rate of 145.68.
Team News
There are no updates regarding injuries from either side.
TKR vs SNP Probable 11
TKR Playing 11
- Martin Guptill
- Rilee Rossouw
- Chadwick Walton
- Kieron Pollard (C)
- Nicholas Pooran (Wk)
- Andre Russell
- Dwayne Bravo
- Sunil Narine
- Akeal Hosein
- Mark Deyal
- Jayden Seales
SNP Playing 11
- Evin Lewis (C)
- Andre Fletcher (Wk)
- Ambati Rayudu
- Corbin Bosch
- Sherfane Rutherford
- George Linde
- Sheldon Cottrell
- Oshane Thomas
- Dominic Drakes
- Yannic Cariah
- Joshua Da Silva
Dream11 Prediction
We are backing the Trinbago Knight Riders to win this match. They have some of the top players in the league playing for their side who will be eager to put up a strong performance. On the other hand, St. Kitts and Nevis has been left weakened with the departure of some of their key players and will find it difficult to cope.
Top Picks
Nicholas Pooran: Nicholas Pooran is in a brilliant form of late. He has scored plenty of runs in the IPL as well as in the MLC and more recently, in the T20 series against India.
Sunil Narine: Narine took 11 wickets last season and was quite economical as well. Back on home turf, we expect him to bowl a good spell. Narine can also strike some lofty blows with the bat.
Andre Fletcher: Fletcher was the leading run-scorer for the St. Kitts and Nevis last season with 229 runs in 9 innings. He will once again be the key batsman for the team.
TKR vs SNP Dream11 Team 1
Keeper: N Pooran (C), A Fletcher
Batters: E Lewis, K Pollard, R Rossouw
All-rounders: A Russell, S Narine (VC), D Bravo, D Drakes
Bowlers: A Hosein, S Cottrell
