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FOURTH-PLACED Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) will be hoping to bring some stability to their 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 campaign when they face second-ranked Jamaica Tallawahs in match 12 on Saturday from 10 am.
At the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia, both teams aim to bounce back from losing their respective third matches on Wednesday.
TKR’s (three points) match record, so far, is one win (vs St Lucia Kings), a no result (vs St Kitts and Nevis Patriots) and a loss (vs Barbados Royals) while Tallawahs (four points) have two wins (vs Patriots and Guyana Amazon Warriors) and one loss (vs Royals).
Both franchises however, boast a wealth of batting firepower with big-hitters such as Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran and Tim Seifert in the TKR camp coming up against Brandon King, Rovman Powell, Raymon Reifer and Fabian Allen.
Tallawahs skipper Powell said despite the batting strength of both teams, victory on the day will come down to the finer elements of the game.
“It’s going to be very important. You’re certain it’s two power-hitting teams looking to hit sixes. But once the bowlers put the ball in the right areas and minimise those boundaries, it now comes down to a playing field where (what counts is)who takes the singles and who plays smart,” Powell said.
The Tallawahs have been led with the bat by three different batsmen in each game. In their first, Brandon King (89) top scored, while Kennar Lewis (48) and Powell (30 not out) made good contributions.
Powell (44 not out) was again unbeaten in the second, with King (32) again among the runs. And in the third, Reifer smashed 62 runs off 41 balls in the St Lucia loss.
TKR, however, have only been able to bat one full innings since the tournament start.
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In their victorious opener against the Kings, Tion Webster (58) was the best batsman, while Seifert (34) also chipped in. Rain forced the second match to be abandoned.
And on Wednesday, a shabby display against Royals saw TKR lose via Duckworth-Lewis, batting at 51/7 after eight overs, in pursuit of 195, before the heavens opened.
TKR coach Abhishek Nayar believes the loss was a one-off.
“I look at it as one bad day that came at the right time,” Nayar said.
Powell, however, is pleased with his team’s effort, but wants an improved display against the four-time winners.
“Things have been pretty good so far. Three matches you win two and lose one. A lot of teams would take that position and so do we.
“The guys have been batting well and it's encouraging signs from them. It’s early in the season, so there is room for improvement. I hope as a batting unit we just keep on improving.”
Powell said they used Thursday and Friday to work on their shortcomings in the last game.
“We will sit down, assess and see where we went wrong and improve. Maybe we gave away too much boundaries or bowled too full, but we’ll have those conversations.”
Currently, the Royals (eight points) top the 2022 CPLT20 standings unbeaten after four matches. Tallwahs are second and Patriots (four points) third.
TKR are fourth, Kings (two points) fifth and Amazon Warriors (one point) on the bottom rung.
At the same venue on Saturday, Amazon Warriors hunt their first win against the Kings from 7 pm.
 
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