Barbados Tridents v Guyana Amazon Warriors, Tarouba
Our XI: Nicholas Pooran, Johnson Charles, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Keemo Paul, Mitchell Santner, Chris Green, Imran Tahir, Naveen-ul-Haq, Rashid Khan, Joshua Bishop
NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so do keep an eye out for the toss before making your final picks.
Captain: Nicholas Pooran
Fresh off a 45-ball century, Pooran is not only in prime form but has also shown that even on the wear and tear that has led to pitches being quite slow in CPL 2020, class will stand out. Pooran is among the most exciting batsmen in the world, capable of shifting through gears and batting long, and doing it with panache. In addition, he has the wicketkeeping gloves too.
Vice-captain: Rashid Khan
CPL teams have of late begun to play out Khan rather than go after him, which has resulted in comparatively fewer wickets for the leggie. Only comparatively, because he’s still his team’s leading wicket-taker. It’s almost a given that he will not be taken apart for runs, and he’s got a couple of cameos with the bat too. His team might be floundering, but Khan is a safe pick in fantasy teams.
Hot Picks
Imran Tahir: The joint second-highest wicket-taker in the competition at the time of writing, and showing no signs of age slowing him down, Tahir is a must-have in most fantasy teams. With limited venues in the CPL leading to a lot more wear and tear on the pitches, the spinners have already proved to be handier than their fast-bowling brethren. Tahir is among those leading the charge.
Jason Holder: As captain, he has a lot of troubles with his team losing two games in two days from winning positions. But as player, Holder has been very effective. He’s second only to Khan in the wickets’ tally, and though moving himself up the order to No. 4 is yet to yield a great batting dividends, he has the game to contribute well with the bat too.
Value picks
Joshua Bishop: He made an impressive debut in the Tridents’ game against St Lucia Zouks, and looks like a thinking spinner who doesn’t get fazed by the big occasion. Since he’s relatively new, it’s worth including him. Other teams would have not worked out all his tricks yet.
Naveen-ul-Haq: Another impressive youngster, he has shown a knack for picking up wickets with regularity. He’s got good zip in his bowling and has not been easy to hit out of the attack either.
Points to note
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Mitchell Santner didn’t play Tridents’ last match due to a niggle. If he is in the XI, he’s a straightforward pick here, but if he continues to sit out, consider bringing in Hayden Walsh Jr.