St Lucia Stars finally managed to put an end to their 14-match losing streak when they beat Barbados Tridents by 38 runs in their previous match. Now they will be hoping for the second win when they host St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (SKNP) in the 13th fixture of the CPL 2018 at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia tonight at 18:00h.
Both teams have played five matches against each other in the Caribbean Premier League with the Nevis Patriots winning three of those and the Lucia Stars two.
Stars after one win and four losses from five league matches, find themselves right at the bottom of the points table with two points. After facing defeats in their first four matches straight, they finally managed to break their shackles in the previous fixture against Barbados Tridents to secure their first win of the season and this should give them some confidence going into this game.
Andre Fletcher and Kieron Pollard who is the season’s second-highest run-getter, cracked a 52-ball 80 and a 54-ball 104 respectively in the previous game against Barbados Tridents.
While David Warner had recently smashed an unbeaten 72 against Trinbago Knight Riders.
Meanwhile, Mitchell McClenaghan has been their most successful bowler so far with six wickets in five matches, with Obed McCoy who claimed a three-wicket haul against the Tridents. Both of them will be expected to get early breakthroughs.
Patriots have won one and lost two out of the three league matches they have played so far this season and are placed fifth on the leaderboard with two points. The defeat in the previous fixture against Jamaica Tallawahs and their underwhelming performance with the bat in that game has raised a few questions as they could only muster 131 while chasing Jamaica’s 178.
Skipper Chris Gayle has scored the most runs for his side so far with 145 runs which include an outstanding knock of 86 against table-toppers Guyana Amazon Warriors and he will once again be the key figure for them against Stars.
Lewis is yet to make a mark this CPL and the team will be hoping that he is able to find form against the Stars.
Sandeep Lamichhane has been their leading wicket-taker with five wickets in three matches and is coming off impressive figures of 2-21 from four overs. The young Nepalese off-spinner is expected to cause a few problems for the Stars in this match as well. While the Patriots will also bank on the likes of Sheldon Cottrell and Carlos Brathwaite to do the job.
SKNP expected Playing XI: Chris Gayle (C), Evin Lewis, Tom Cooper, Devon Thomas, Anton Devcich, Mahmudullah, Sheldon Cottrell, Ben Cutting, Carlos Brathwaite, Jeremiah Louis and Sandeep Lamichhane
Stars expected Playing XI: Kieron Pollard (C), Darren Sammy, Qais Ahmad, Kavem Hodge, Odean Smith, Mitchell McClenaghan, Obed McCoy, Andre Fletcher, David Warner, Rahkeem Cornwall and Lendl Simmons.
