Trinbago Knight Riders vs Guyana Amazon Warriors, Caribbean Premier League T20 2020, Today Match Prediction 18 Aug 2020

tkr vs gaw Match Prediction & Analysis

The wait is finally over and after months of no T20 action, the 1st match of the Caribbean Premier League signals the return to some kind of normalcy in cricket. While the ‘new normal’ would restrict the entry of fans in the stadium the first game between Trinbago Knight Riders and Guyana Amazon Warriors will definitely end the draught of swashbuckling T20 cricket that fans have been denied due to the ongoing pandemic. With so much of expectations from the fans, we expect this to be a cracker of a contest.

Being the first game of the season there would be pressure on both the teams to come up with a good show here. Guyana Amazon Warriors are under a new skipper and would miss out on some of their best performers from the last season and this will increase the pressure on the side. The Trinbago Knight Riders, on the other hand, have retained their core and this adds to their advantage. Given the long break, many of these players have had from the game it will be interesting to see how they shape up for this contest.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Trinbago Knight Riders Preview

With the Kieron Pollard at the helm, the Knight Riders definitely have one of the strongest squads in the tournament. Pollard would look to lead his side from the front that has the core of West Indies’ national T20 side. The skipper would want his players to play their natural game and start the tournament on a high.

Lendl Simmons and Sunil Narine form a very strong opening combination and the side would expect a brisk start from them in the game. Simmons who was among the top run getters last season would be looking to start from where he had left. Collin Munro, Pollard and Darren Bravo are formidable players in the middle. With Dwayne Bravo, Tim Seifert and Sikandar Raza down the order they have a very strong line-up going into the game.

Their bowling attack looks relatively weak at the moment where Jayden Seales is expected to share the new ball with Ali Khan. Narine and Fawad Ahmed add an interesting spin dimension to the bowling. Dwayne Bravo and Pollard are highly experienced campaigners and they would look to exploit the weaknesses that the Guyana Amazon Warriors have at the moment. Sikandar Raza will have to use his experience and limit the flow of runs.

Trinbago Knight Riders Predicted Playing XI:

Keiron Pollard (c), Lendl Simmons, Sunil Narine, Collin Munro, Darren Bravo, Tim Seifert (wk), Sikandar Raza, Jayden Seales, Dwayne Bravo, Ali Khan, Fawad Ahmed

Trinbago Knight Riders Actual Playing XI:

Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Sunil Narine, Colin Munro, Sikandar Raza, Jayden Seales, Tim Seifert, Fawad Ahmed, LMP Simmons, Ali Khan

Guyana Amazon Warriors Preview

Chris Green the new captain for the Warriors has big shoes to fill in with previous skipper Sohaib Malik not part of the squad. They would also be without the services of several key players due to national duties and Covid-19 restrictions. With a batting line-up that looks strong, Green would look forward to standing up to the challenge posed by their stronger opponents in this game.

The side packs punch in its batting at the top with Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj at the top. Both these players were at the top of their game last season. With Ross Taylor and Shimron Hetmyer to follow, this line-up will challenge the Riders’ bowlers. Green along with Nicholas Pooran and Sherfane Rutherford adds punch to the line-up down the order and shall be looking to do the high scoring down the order.

Green and Hemraj had done well opening the bowling last season and they will aim at grabbing early wickets in this game. Imran Tahir brings in a lot of experience to this bowling line-up and the team would have high expectations from him in the game. Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd and Naveen-ul-Haq will be expected to support the main bowlers.

Guyana Amazon Warriors Predicted Playing XI:

Chris Green (c), Brandon King, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Ross Taylor, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Keemo Paul, Romario Shepherd, Imran Tahir, Odean Smith

Guyana Amazon Warriors Actual Playing XI:

Ross Taylor, Shimron Hetmyer, Brandon King, Imran Tahir, Nicholas Pooran, Naveen-ul-Haq, Romario Shepherd, Chandrapaul Hemraj, Sherfane Rutherford, Christopher Green, Keemo Paul

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

It will be clear skies over Trinidad on August 18 and conditions are expected to be perfect for T20 cricket. The fresh pitch would have something on offer for the fast bowlers in the game and batsmen would need to be cautious in their approach. The side that bats first would have to eye a score in excess of 160 runs to win considering the kind of power hitters we have on both sides.

Venue Details

Brian Lara Stadium, Tarouba, Trinidad has seen big scores as the flat pitch along with the shorter boundaries which allow the batsmen to play their strokes easily. Fast bowlers tend to get some bounce and swing with the new ball. Spinners have done well over the years on this wicket as the oddball can stop on the batsmen leading to false strokes.

Toss: To Bowl

It is the first game of the season and both the sides would be looking to achieve that perfect start. There has been a trend of sorts in the last few years in T20 cricket where teams have preferred to chase scores. Hence we believe the side that wins the toss would like to bowl first and restrict the opponents to a low total.