Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel will go up against St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain on Monday.
The two sides are meeting each other for the first time. Dwayne Bravo's Red Steel have been in excellent form, winning four of their five games and are now top of the table. In contrast, Darren Sammy's Zouks are yet to register their first win after three games and languish at the bottom.
In their last encounter, Red Steel beat defending champions Jamaica Tallawahs, led by Chris Gayle. Batting first, the Trinidadian team racked up 183. They were propelled by opener Ewin Lewis' aggressive 72. Along with Irishman Kevin O'Brien, Lewis got the team off to a fantastic start. And then the bowlers saw to it that the hard-hitting Jamaican batting line-up could not get to the target. O'Brien, after a quickfire 32 with the bat, starred with the ball, scalping four wickets.
Kevon Cooper was economical as he has been for the last few games, while pacer Fidel Edwards picked up a wicket. Now that Lewis has done well, the batting looks more dangerous, with O'Brien continuing to prosper in the tournament.
Sammy's men, on the other hand, have to pull up their socks. They are in danger of remaining at the bottom, if they don't improve soon. Neither the batting nor the bowling has clicked so far.
Their problems begin at the top as Johnson Charles has not fired in this tournament yet. Henry Davids did make a fifty in the first game but has not done anything thereafter. The lack of a good start has been hurting them. Andre Fletcher has looked good at times, while Sammy has failed to turn starts into big scores.
The bowlers have not been very effective. Tino Best has been expensive without looking threatening. Sohail Tanvir can improve and Shane Shillingford will be looking to keep the runs down. Roelof van de Merwe bowled only one over in the last game and was taken for 18 runs.
If St Lucia are to make an impact in this tournament, they have put the defeats behind them and pull out the stops against an in-form Red Steel.
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.
