It’s the opening game of the 2023 Caribbean Premier League, and what better way to start than pitching two rivals against each other! Moreover, we start the campaign at home which gives us the advantage and the players would want to surely capitalize on these home conditions. The last time we faced Jamaica Tallawahs was in the 2022 CPL eliminators, where our batters found it tough to help us cross the finish line and we eventually lost the game by 33 runs.
Flash-forward 11 months later, we have the chance to make things right this time around where we once again face the defending champions. While the head-to-head stats suggests that we do not have the best of records against our upcoming rivals, where the Tallawahs have won 12 of the 19 matches against us.
Although things could look different in this edition, especially with the additions of star players like Sikandar Raza. Our upcoming opponents have won the CPL previously on three occasions, while our best finish has been as runners-up in the 2020 and 2021 editions.
We would also want to avoid the slow start we had like in the previous campaign and try to begin the new season on the front foot. While we did finish third in the league last time, our inconsistent start meant we were dependent on other results to go our way to qualify for the playoffs.
Our upcoming opponents and defending champions of the 2022 editions, on the other hand, finished fourth in the league, and shockingly had the same league record as us. We lost the opening four of our five matches last season and would want to avoid that and look to stamp authority in the league right from the word go.
In our conquest to win our first CPL trophy, skipper Faf du Plessis will lead the way for us. The former South Africa captain had a season to remember who was the second-highest run-scorer for us.
Our leading run scorer was none other than our wicket-keeper Saint Lucia born Johnson Charles who had a cracking season, smashing boundaries for fun in the 2022 CPL campaign. The West Indies leeper was also the third-highest run scorer in the entire league last season.
Our batting was in fine form last season, but the man spearheading our bowling department was on a roll himself. Alzarri Joseph picked up 18 wickets in the 2022 CPL season and was the highest wicket-taker. His aggressive and smart bowling meant we were able to restrict opponents to respectable totals and his economy rate is proof of how effective he was.
Both the teams would want to get off to a winning start considering their inconsistent league form last season. And a win would also boost the morale of our boys from Saint Lucia in a bid to win the first-ever Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League trophy.
