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Fitness permitting, Evin Lewis is expected to be back for the Patriots after missing their last Championship game
Big picture
The perennial bridesmaids meet the losing 2017 finalists. The Guyana Amazon Warriors have been the near-squad throughout CPL history, qualifying five times for the final but never claiming the title. The Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots finished second four years ago, coincidentally at Chris Gayle’s first rodeo with this year’s host franchise, and he’s now back trying to turn a medal from silver in gold.
The first half of this campaign saw these teams in very different situations than they entered the playoffs. The Patriots fired like a cannon out of the gates, winning their first five games behind the sizzling form of Sherfane Rutherford, who scored three fifties. in this stretch. But as Rutherford’s bat has cooled, the Patriots as a whole have also won just one of their last five league games.
The Amazon Warriors, meanwhile, have only won two of their top five – needing a Super Over to cross the line in one – but have since won four out of five with different heroes stepping up. Everytime. Whether it’s Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith or Captain Nicholas Pooran, the Warriors have shown resilience through a variety of winning performances. The Warriors come into this game with all their momentum, but if the Patriots can rekindle their early-season form, it could be the formula for an exciting semi-final.
Form Guide
Amazonian warriors of Guyana WWWWLW (last five games completed, most recent first)
Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots LWLLL
In the spotlight
Romario Shepherd had 36 points in the tournament entering the final round robin game. There he scored twice as much with incredible style, digging his side out of a 75-for-7 hole while also scoring at a hit rate over 200, then took three wickets in the pursuit. He was the tournament’s main wicket-taker with 18 years old and was especially valuable during the death.
Evin lewis helped the Patriots clinch a playoff berth with a 101-on-52 unbeaten game on the penultimate day of group play, but was sidelined a day later. He is the second best runner in the tournament and is in good shape heading into the T20 World Cup.
Team news
Condition permitting, Lewis is expected to be back in the Patriots XI for the semifinal clash. Joshua Da Silva’s half-century at the top of the order, however, gives managers an interesting dilemma as to who should take the gloves. Another draw may occur between picking Sheldon Cottrell and leaving him out for an extra spinner to Jon-Russ Jaggesar.
Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots (possible): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Devon Thomas, 4 Sherfane Rutherford, 5 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 6 Fabian Allen, 7 Joshua Da Silva (week), 8 Dominic Drakes, 9, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, 10 Paul van Meekeren, 11 Fawad Ahmed.
The Warriors’ winning combination over the past weekend looks hard to break as they try to advance to their sixth final. Although with Shoaib Malik out of form, a tough call may need to be made to keep faith in the longtime mid-order mainstay or look elsewhere for intermediate leads and rotations, potentially from Kevin Sinclair.
Amazonian warriors of Guyana (possible): 1 Brandon King, 2 Chandrapaul Hemraj, 3 Shimron Hetmyer, 4 Shoaib Malik, 5 Nicholas Pooran (capt), 6 Anthony Bramble (week), 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Odean Smith, 9 Gudakesh Motie, 10 Naveen-ul -Haq, 11 Imran Tahir.
Field conditions
As the tournament progressed, the wickets continued to wear down and help turn. But there were still a lot of trails offered thanks to the short limits. There were a few rain interruptions over the last weekend of play, but these came in the middle or late afternoon and were brief, so a full game shouldn’t be difficult to complete. .
Statistics and anecdotes
- Captain Dwayne Bravo continues to expand his illustrious career at CPL. His eight wickets this season have taken his CPL mark to 114, 18 more than next closest pitcher Rayad Emrit.
- The Amazon Warriors have advanced to the tournament final the previous two times when the knockouts took place in St. Kitts. Their two preliminary final victories came against the Tallawahs of Jamaica, before losing to the Barbados Tridents (2014) and the Tallawahs (2016) in the final.
Estimate
“We have to go all the way and try to win the final. We’ve been in the final five times and haven’t won it yet. We want to try to get the first one.”
Romario Shepherd during Sunday’s post-game presentation was well aware of the Warriors’ playoff record entering this year’s knockout stage.
“For me TKR are the best team in the tournament so to get the result I’m very proud of the team. Evin is the best in the world right now.”
Dwayne Bravo believes that the victory over the Knight Riders on Saturday is a more faithful reflection of his team’s abilities.
Peter Della Penna is the US correspondent for ESPNcricinfo @PeterDellaPenna
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