TKR eye third straight win against wounded Tallawahs

THE TRINBAGO Knight Riders (TKR) men's team will aim for a third win on the trot in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament when they play Jamaica Tallawahs at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados at 10 am on Sunday.

After their first match against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots ended in a no result which was followed by a loss to St Lucia Kings by 54 runs, TKR have been impressive defeating Patriots by six wickets on August 27 and Barbados Royals by 133 runs on Wednesday.

Opener Martin Guptill, who got off to a shaky start in the CPL, struck the first century of this year's tournament when he hit 100 not out off 58 balls against the Royals. TKR captain Kieron Pollard also made a difference with 46 off 32 balls. The pair helped TKR post 194/5, before dismissing Royals for 61 in 12.1 overs.

Left-arm spinner Waqar Salamkheil, on debut for TKR, took 4/14 in 3.1 overs to help dismantle the Royals.

Tallawahs will be eager for a victory after losing their last two matches.

The top order batting of the Tallawahs has contributed to the struggle of late. Against the Guyana Amazon Warriors on August 27, Tallawahs were reduced to 13/4 and on Thursday versus the Royals were 23/3. Tallawahs will be hoping captain Brandon King can regain his form after lashing 81 off 53 balls in the opening match of CPL against St Lucia Kings on August 16.

Standings (Before Saturday night's match between Royals/Kings):

Teams*GP*W*L*NR*Pts*NRR

Amazon Warriors*4*3*0*1*7*3.283

Kings*5*2*1*2*6*1.617

TKR*4*2*1*1*5*1.752

Tallawahs*5*2*2*1*5*-0.010

Royals*5*2*2*1*5*-2.058

Patriots*7*0*5*2*2*-2.472