Who will win Trinbago Knight Riders vs St Lucia Stars (CPL)?
Winless St Lucia Stars play their first home game of the 2018 Caribbean Premier League against defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders - who beat them in the first game of the new season. The match is scheduled for August 16 and the live action begins at 20:00 local time.
Sts vs Tkr (CPL): Where to watch/Live streaming
TV channels: Sky Sports, Sony Six, SuperSport, CNC 3, ESPN, SportsMac TV, Fox Sports, Willow TV, OSN Sports Cricket
Live streaming: NOW TV, SkyGo, SonyLiv, Facebook
Toss Prediction
The last three matches between these two teams have seen the winning captain elect to field first – a tactic which proved far more successful for the Knight Riders than the Stars.
Read on for team previews, betting tips, latest odds and match prediction for St Lucia Stars vs Trinbago Knight Riders (CPL).
St Lucia Stars Team News & Playing 11
STS Team News
St Lucia Stars drafted several big names as they looked to improve on last season's winless campaign, but they have been unsuccessful so far. Darren Sammy returned to the side last time out and will play in the stadium named after him against Trinbago Knight Riders, while Obed McCoy impressed in his first start of the new tournament and will likely keep his place. Mohammad Sami missed out after six wicketless, expensive overs in his first two matches.
STS Key Players
Lendl Simmons, the leading run scorer in the Global T20 Canada, has scored 70 runs in three games so far, with the highlight being his 45 against Guyana Amazon Warriors - when he hit five sixes in his 39-ball innings.
Andre Fletcher top scored, opening the batting, last time out. He hit 43 from 33 balls against the Jamaica Tallawahs and was also the Stars' top scorer in last year's competition with 286 from ten innings. His opening partner David Warner has failed to fire so far, however.
Kieron Pollard has scored 32 and 26 in his last two matches, meanwhile, having been bumped up the order to number four. He also has three wickets from his three games so far.
Also key with the ball is in-form West Indies international Kesrick Williams, who took 2-28 against Trinbago in their last meeting, while Qais Ahmad took 3-15 in the match against Guyana Amazon Warriors from his four overs.
STS Team Form
St Lucia Stars' abysmal run of form in the Caribbean Premier League has continued so far in this year's competition, with three defeats from three games taking their winless streak to 14 matches in all. They have not won since the final group game of the 2016 competition.
So far this year, they have been bowled out for 95 in the opening game against Trinbago Knight Riders to fall to a 100-run defeat, then failed to capitalise on a much-improved bowling performance as they slipped to a three-run defeat against Guyana Amazon Warriors - chasing 141/4 thanks to Qais Ahmad's 3-15, they slipped from 113/2 with 22 balls remaining to 126/7 with five balls left and eventually finished on 138/7.
Last time out, Andre Fletcher's 43 and Darren Sammy's 36, followed by 21 from eight balls by Kavem Hodge, helped them post 175 all out from their 20 overs against Jamaica Tallawahs. An 81-run opening partnership from the first eight overs in reply meant the result was never in doubt, however, even if the Tallawahs only sealed their six-wicket win with two balls remaining.
St Lucia Stars Predicted Playing 11
David Warner, Andre Fletcher, Lendl Simmons, Kieron Pollard, Mark Chapman, Darren Sammy, Kavem Hodge, Mitchell McClenaghan, Qais Ahmad, Kesrick Williams, Obed McCoy.
Trinbago Knight Riders Team News & Playing 11
TKR Team News
While he was expensive with the ball, Kevon Cooper is likely to retain his place ahead of Javon Scantlebury-Searles for the match against St Lucia Stars having hit 42 from 22 balls in the Knight Riders’ unsuccessful chase against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots last time out. That is the only change the Knight Riders have made to their starting XI in three matches so far. With all of the batsmen except Sunil Narine having had at least one big score so far, however, it is difficult to see where else changes can be made. That said, Shannon Gabriel has been expensive with the ball in two of the three matches and needs a performance to cement his place in the bowling attack.
TKR Key Players
Chris Munro picked up where he left off last time after he scored 366 in last year’s competition. In the opening game against St Lucia Stars, he hit 68 from 48 balls and has hit 61 and 35 in his two innings since to lead the charts so far this time out.
Denesh Ramdin scored an unbeaten 50 against St Lucia in the opening game, while Brendan McCullum hit 56 from 27 balls in the second game against Jamaica Tallawahs. Kevon Cooper (42 from 22 balls) and Darren Bravo (41 from 38) were their top scorers last time out, against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
Big-hitting opener Chris Lynn has proved he is fit again, meanwhile, scoring three sixes in his 27-ball 46 against Jamaica Tallawahs.
Dwayne Bravo took 16 wickets in last year’s tournament and started this year’s with three against St Lucia. He took 3-11 in that game, while Fawad Ahmed claimed 3-16 from four overs. Ahmed, who also took 14 wickets in the Global T20 Canada, has five in total so far, but Ali Khan has been their star man with seven wickets. The American opening bowler has taken 1-10 from two, 3-24 from four and 3-23 from four in his thee games so far.
TKR Team Form
Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders started this year’s tournament by thrashing St Lucia Stars by 100 runs. Colin Munro (68) and Denesh Ramdin (50*) scored half-centuries in a total of 195/6 and the Stars were bowled out for just 95 as Dwayne Bravo and Fawad Ahmed took three wickets apiece.
The Knight Riders have lost both matches since, however, despite posting 223/6 against Jamaica Tallawahs in their second game – Munro (61), Brendon McCullum (56) and Chris Lynn (46) all scoring heavily. Ali Khan took two wickets in the first over and 3-24 from his four overs in total, but Andre Russell’s explosive unbeaten 121 led the Tallawahs home with four wickets and three balls to spare.Last time out, Khan (3-23) and Sunil Narine (2-24) bowled economically but more big hitting down the order, this time from Carlos Braithwaite, saw St Kitts and Nevis Patriots post 203/7 from their 20 overs. The Knight Riders never got going in response, and only a late 42* from 22 balls by Kevon Cooper restored some respectability to the scoreline in a 42-run defeat.
Trinbago Knight Riders Predicted Playing 11
Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Denesh Ramdin, Kevon Cooper, Ali Khan, Shannon Gabriel, Fawad Ahmed
Aug 17, 2018
05:30 IST / 0:00 GMT
Darren Sammy Stadium - Gros Islet, Saint Lucia
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