Barbados Tridents go up against St.Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League on Thursday.
The Barbados Tridents are led by destructive West Indies batsman Kieron Pollard while WI T20 skipper and all-rounder Darren Sammy is the captain of the men from St.Lucia.
The Tridents are in fourth place in the points table while St.Lucia Zouks languish at the bottom without a win to their name.
St.Lucia have been steamrolled in both their games. In the first match they could do very little against a marauding Chris Gayle as his 111 saw the Zouks beaten comprehensively. They had put up a decent score of 161 but their bowlers in this batsmen-friendly format couldn't hit the right lengths.
In their second encounter, they could only manage 117 on the board against a redoubtable Guyana Amazon Warriors with Krishmar Santokie bagging four wickets. The bowlers with a measly score to defend had very little impact as the Warriors sealed an easy victory by nine wickets.
Darren Sammy's men will have to pull their socks up if they are to open their account in this year's CPLT20. In the first game their bowlers looked out of place while in the second the batting left a lot to be desired.
Amongst the batsman only Henry Davids of South Africa got going in the first game with a fifty to his name. Darren Sammey did make a useful contribution in the first game with 29.
They will look to Henry Davids to make more than a half-century this time. Aggressive opener Johnson Charles will also want to make an impact, as will South African Roelof van de Merwe. Apart from them, wicket-keeper Andre Fletcher can be handy with the bat.
A lot will depend on Pakistan's Sohail Tanvir, who can cause batsmen problems with his swing bowling. In the spin department Shane Shillingford can be stingy. Spinner van de Merwe can provide good support. Darren Sammy, who can hit the ball a long way and is a decent bowler, will look to inspire his men with a good performance.
Kieron Pollard's men were brushed aside in their opening encounter as Red Steel cantered to a seven-wicket victory. They put in a much improved performance in their second game as they beat Antigua Hawksbills by five wickets.
Ravi Rampaul's crucial strikes in the end restricted the Hawksbills to 172 when they were threatening to make a bigger score. The bowling, especially the spinners, however, could do with improvement as Marlon Samuels in that game was hitting them to all parts.
Pacer Jason Holder, yet to fire in the tournament, will hope to do so in this game and ably support Rampaul, who took four wickets in the last game. Pollard will hope to do a good supporting job, as will Shoaib Malik with his right-arm off spin.
Where to Watch Live
The game will start at 4 pm local time (1:30 am IST) with coverage on Sony Six in India. The match is available live online HERE. US viewers can catch the action on ESPN3, with the option to live stream HERE.
