Saint Lucia Kings return to action after a five-day break when they square off against St Kitts and Patriots as the tournament moves on to its next leg in Trinidad on Saturday, September 17.
The Kings ended their home leg at the Daren Sammy Stadium on a high as they convincingly beat the Patriots by 61 runs.
There are expected changes in the rematch as Tim David has left the Kings to represent Australia. Adam Hose has been roped in as his replacement.
Skipper Faf du Plessis will look to continue his rich vein of form, building on his smashing 60 off 35 balls in the previous match. The captain has hit form right before the crucial segment of the tournament, and the Kings need him firing on all cylinders if they are to qualify for the knockout rounds.
Du Plessis will be complemented by his opening partner Johnson Charles. Charles, who is the second highest run-scorer in the tournament so far with 227 runs, has also been selected for the West Indies team for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia. He has smashed 17 fours and 13 sixes in the tournament so far.
The middle order, however, needs to boost their performance to make sure Kings put up an even better total on the board.
The bowling department shone against the Patriots in the previous match, and will again be led by the tournament’s highest wicket-taker Alzarri Joseph. He won’t be alone though, as Matthew Forde, David Wiese and Scott Kuggeleijn are in good wicket-taking form too.
The Patriots, meanwhile, will be aiming to improve their batting performance this time around and will look to get their big guns going. Andre Fletcher, who was out on a duck against the Kings, has got back into form with a match-winning 45 not out against the Tallawahs.
Evin Lewis is another batter in good nick, along with Darren Bravo who struck 39 in 21 balls against the Tallawahs. Afghanistan star Rashid Khan joined the defending champions a few days ago, bolstering the bowling unit which also features Dwayne Bravo and Sherfane Rutherford.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots currently take up the third spot in the table with six points in seven matches while Saint Lucia Kings are fifth with four points but have a game in hand.
A win will see the Kings move closer to the playoffs spot and a winning run now in the competition will definitely take them through.
