Knight Riders, Patriots square off for top spot

JELANI BECKLES

Fans of the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, will be hoping for another exciting match when the teams meet for a second time in the 2017 Hero Caribbean Premier League at Warner Park, St Kitts, from 6 pm, today.

Both teams are locked in battle to finish the preliminary stage of the tournament at the top of the standings. Knight Riders lead the standings with 12 points from seven matches, while the Patriots are just one point behind having played the same number of matches.

It was an exciting contest the first time the teams met at the Queen’s Park Oval in St Clair on August 14. Chasing 159 for victory, TKR were in a spot of bother on 89 for five after 14 overs. Needing 70 from 36 deliveries wicket-keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin stepped up to guide TKR to the win.

Ramdin blazed an unbeaten 59 off 35 balls with two fours and four sixes as TKR got to 161/6 in 19.3 overs to prevail by four wickets. TKR captain Dwayne Bravo (20) and Javon Searles (12 not out) also helped TKR over the line.

It may be a high scoring contest tonight with both teams possessing quality batting line ups.

Colin Munro, Brendan McCullum, Ramdin, Sunil Narine and the Bravo brothers (Dwayne and Darren) will lead the TKR batting. Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Carlos Brathwaite and Mohammad Nabi will aim to post another huge total if they bat first.

On Monday, the Patriots scored a massive 208/3 against the Jamaica Tallawahs with Gayle scoring 71 not out and Lewis cracking 69. Tallawahs were reduced to 171/7 in 20 overs.

Knight Riders and Patriots have already booked places in the knock-out phase of the tournament.