Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel will take on Jamaica Tallawahs in the first eliminator of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2015 on 23 July at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago.
Having lost to the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the last league match of the CPL 2015, Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel finished third in the table. Both Red Steel and Warriors finished on 11 points, but the latter had a better net run rate than the former. As a result Warriors have moved into the second eliminator of the tournament and they will play against the winner of the first eliminator between Red Steel and Tallawahs.
Meanwhile, Chris Gayle-led Tallawahs finished fourth in the table after the league. They now have a tough ask. If they would want to reach the second eliminator, they will have to go past the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Jacques Kallis, Kamran Akmal and Johan Botha. Tallawahs will be hoping a big score from their skipper Gayle who has been in red hot form. Gayle has scored 400 runs with an average of 66.67 in the CPL 2015 so far. He also has hit most number of sixes in the tournament (30).
But Cricket as we all know is a team game. Tallawahs bowling attack has to be right on the money as this is the knock-out stage. Gayle would be expecting a lot more from the likes of Krishmar Santokie, Jerome Taylor, Daniel Vettori and Rusty Theron.
"Listen to me: I'm pretty confident. We know what's required" - @henrygayle on #RedSteel v #Tallawahs #CPL15 https://t.co/oXDFNeK1x2
— CPL T20 (@CPL) July 23, 2015
These two teams have played twice in the CPL 2015. In the first game, Tallawahs thrashed Red Steel by 50 runs; courtesy a blitzkrieg from Gayle. And in the second game, Red Steel bounced back to register a victory by seven runs.
Meanwhile, Dwayne Bravo, who is the the highest taker of the tournament, will be looking to get Gayle's wicket early in the match in order to give themselves a chance to reach the second eliminator of the CPL 2015. Bravo is also aware of the fact that the Tallawahs middle-order cannot produced a lot of runs if Gayle gets dismissed early. The likes of Mahela Jayawardene and Chris Lynn have struggled to score runs in this edition of the CPL.
"We'll target @henrygayle early and see if we can knock him over" - Dwayne Bravo on the #RedSteel's plans #CPL15 https://t.co/tyusB2on3w — CPL T20 (@CPL) July 23, 2015
The momentum is with Red Steel as they have won three out of their last four games. But a defeat in the last game of the group league cost them a spot in the final. As a result, Barbados Tridents have reached the final already with most number of points.
Squads:
Jamaica Tallawahs: Chris Gayle (C), Chadwick Walton(w), Chris Lynn, Mahela Jayawardene, Jermaine Blackwood, Andre Russell, Daniel Vettori, Narsingh Deonarine, Rusty Theron, Krishmar Santokie, Jerome Taylor, Horace Miller, Nikita Miller, Nkruma Bonner, David Bernard, Ramaal Lewis.
Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel: Jacques Kallis, Cameron Delport, William Perkins, Darren Bravo, Kamran Akmal(w), Dwayne Bravo(C), Johan Botha, Kevon Cooper, Derone Davis, Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Miguel Cummins, Jason Mohammed, Marlon Richards, Mark Deyal, Javon Searles.
Where to Watch Live:
The first eliminator of the Hero Caribbean Premier League between Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel and Jamaica Tallawahs is scheduled for 6pm local time (3:30am IST, 11pm BST and 10pm GMT) start with the live coverage in India on Sony Six and Sony Six HD. Viewers can also stream the match live in Livsports.
Viewers in the US can switch to ESPN 3 and stream the same on ESPN GO.
