Barbados Tridents vs St Lucia Zouks: Fantasy Preview

Barbados Tridents will lock horns with St Lucia Zouks in the 26th game of the 2019 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at their home ground, Kensington Oval in Bridgetown. The contest is virtually a knockout game as the losing party will have no chance to qualify for the playoffs and the winning side will sneak in as the fourth-placed team in the points table.

Tridents will seek motivation from their magnificent record against Zouks. In the 12 encounters between the two sides, Tridents have emerged victorious in nine games, losing only three. Zouks is the only side against whom Tridents have a victory percentage in excess of 50 - 75 percent (minimum five games). In the last game between the two sides, Zouks suffered their heaviest defeat of the season while chasing a target, succumbing to a 71-run loss. 

The Kensington Oval has proved to be the best venue for spinners in this season. The economy rate, bowling average and strike-rate for the spinners here have been the best amongst all venues for the ongoing CPL season by quite a big margin    

The venue has seen some exceptional performances by spinners - 5 for 19 by Hayden Walsh, 4 for 14 by Chris Green and 3 for 19 by Imran Khan to name a few. Hence, loading your fantasy side with spinners from both sides will be beneficial.

Also, both sides have not been great with the bat, placed in the lower half of the table in terms of batting average. Therefore, the focus should lie on building a team with all-rounders and bowlers. 

JP Duminy recently reminded cricket fans of his batting abilities when he scored the fastest half-century in CPL history touching the 50-run mark in only 15 balls against Trinbago Knight Riders. He is the highest run-scorer for Tridents this season and is listed sixth in the leading run-getters of the tournament. Moreover, he can be handy with the ball as well on the slow Kensington Oval track. All of Duminy’s four wickets in the tournament have come in Bridgetown and he can add more to his tally if given a chance to bowl. 

Free from international duty, Shakib Al Hasan played his first game of the season in Tridents’ last game, against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. Even though Tridents lost the game by 1-run but the Bangladeshi all-rounder showed why he is considered as a class act around world cricket. He bowled an economical spell of 1 for 14 in his four overs before contributing crucial 38 runs with the bat. Considering that he has been playing cricket consistently since the 2019 World Cup, a cricketer of his calibre cannot be left out of the team.

The highest wicket-taker of previous season, Fawad Ahmed is once again having a decent time in the Caribbean this season taking nine wickets in as many games at a bowling average of 21.7. On the Kensington Oval track, he can once again be handy with his leg-spinners causing troubles for the Tridents’ batsmen.

Having played only four games in the tournament, the USA international, Hayden Walsh is already the top wicket-taker amongst the spinners this season. He is the only bowler to take a five-wicket haul in the season when he ran through Knight Riders’ batting line-up. A striking-rate of approximately three wickets in every game makes him a must-pick player for your Fantasy XI.

Cloud cover is expected in Barbados during the game but the forecast does not seem to be too alarming to have an effect on the game.  

Johnson Charles (wk), Alex Hales, Colin Ingram, JP Duminy (c), Shakib Al Hasan (vc), Jonathan Carter, Rakheem Cornwall, Kesrick Williams, Hayden Walsh, Fawad Ahmed, Hardus Viljoen