Kings vs Knight Riders-10th Match in St Lucia

Venue: Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Saint Lucia Kings have won the toss and have opted to field

In reply to Narper

Ok, Narps, stay on the wagon and don't roam and post on other threads. hic..

If you do such, I have a breathalyzer, and you will be cut off from the bar.

In reply to sgtdjones

Knight Riders and Kings prepare to push up the table

Pooran: 'Not trying to reinvent the wheel'

...

We're here for Match number 10, live from the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St Lucia, as the St Lucia Kings take on the Trinbago Knight Riders.

The Knight Riders are in a similar boat, with one win and one loss, leaving them in a disappointing fifth place. They'll be desperate to get back to winning ways and climb into the top four. They're coming off an eight-run loss to the Falcons, where they failed to chase down 167. Both teams will be eager for a victory today to build momentum, finalise their team combinations, and secure a stronger position for the playoffs, even though it's still early in the tournament.


Let's start with the home team, the St Lucia Kings. They've played two matches so far, with one win and one washout due to rain. Currently sitting in fourth place, they're coming off a thrilling victory where David Wiese defended four runs off the final ball to snatch a win from the Patriots. The Kings also hold the advantage in the head-to-head stats, winning three of their last five encounters.


Let's go, TKR...Voicy is already making Hexcuses.

Where Falcons get these overseas players from?

Let me join the wagon early.
The star packed team is on show tonight facing off the Dear leader.

In reply to Narper

Wait big OT in the playing XI?

VOR gonna enjoy this match

In reply to Narper

no such facility exist any where in St Lucia.

There is a Darren Sammy cricket ground.

Two changes for Trinbago Knight Riders: Andre Russell and McKenny Clarke are in to replace Darren Bravo and Nathan Edward.


Trinbago Knight Riders XI: Colin Munro, Alex Hales, Keacy Carty, Nicholas Pooran (capt & wk), Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Akeal Hosein, Mohammad Amir, Usman Tariq, McKenny Clarke

One change for St Lucia Kings: Oshane Thomas replacing Alzarri Joseph.

St Lucia Kings XI: Johnson Charles, Ackeem Auguste, Tim Seifert (wk), Roston Chase, Tim David, Delano Potgieter, David Wiese (capt), Keon Gaston, Khary Pierre, Tabraiz Shamsi, Oshane Thomas

David Wiese: "We are going to have a ball first today. It's a new, fresh wicket, so we're not quite sure what it's going to do. So get a ball out there. Maybe there's a little bit in it first up, and then we can hopefully flatten out and chase it towards the end. [Never beaten TKR here] You don't want to go too much against stats, whatever, but they have had our number the last couple of years. But hopefully we can change that tonight. [Any changes?] Unfortunately, Alzarri Joseph picked up a little bit of a niggle, so he's out. And then we got Oshane Thomas to come back in."

Nicholas Pooran: "The ageing team we have, and we have to manage a lot of niggles, but the guys have already been doing a lot of work off the field, just to try to be as close to 100% as possible to be available for us. We're ready to go. I hold myself in high regard, and obviously, it's disappointing when I get out the way I sometimes get out. But for me, I have a lot of pride, and every single game I go out, I want to try my best and perform for my teammates and put us in a position to win the game. So hopefully tonight I can try my best to do a lot of the right things. We have two changes. Nathan is out. McKenny makes his debut in his home venue in front of his fans. And Dre Russ is back, and Darren Bravo is out."

St Lucia Kings won the toss and elected to field first

..........

Pitch Report from Nikhil Uttamchandani and Danny Morrison: "The weather is pleasant in terms of overhead conditions, 30 degrees Celsius. One thing to watch is humidity, because the dew factor is always prominent in matches, especially as they go later into the night, and in terms of the dew, the wind and dimensions are critical as well. If I'm standing here and you're bowling from the Media Centre End, hitting to the offside, there is a slightly two-metre difference in the square boundary. That wind coming from the east is something for bowlers to think about. Last year, spin dominated 29 wickets at 17 apiece, almost against the norm of what you expect, seeing how much live grass is here. When I think and talk to players, they love coming to this part of the world because what they want as a player is consistency, pace, and bounce. There's a bit of live grass around, but I don't mind that. And there are a few cracks. That's just the normal sort of thing here at St Lucia; you feel a few cracks, but I love seeing the live grass. We know it's rock hard; it tells you the stats you want to chase a total, but be wary, because I think sides that can bat first here smash it to all parts, and you can get a good score on batting first. I know it's a little bit trickier having to post a total, but I like what I see here."

Akeal Hosein: "For me, when I get to the ground, it's going through a bit of stretches and getting warmed up with the bands and stuff like that. And then I'll go take my mark, I'll have a look at the pitch, and then I'll start formulating my plans based on conditions and the pitch as well, wind direction, and stuff like that. And then get into a bit of spot bowling. I do homework. I believe, as long as you tick those boxes the night before you come into the game, you're basically 50 or 60% ready because you've looked at the footage of the batsman, you've understood their weaknesses, their strengths, and what they're looking to do in different phases of the game. So I believe that once you have that kind of information going into the game, it makes it a bit easier. The main thing that you know has been spoken about on this ground is definitely the wind factor. So it's about formulating plans for whichever batsman and also keeping in mind on which end a particular delivery might work - on the top end, it may not work on the bottom end. Lines might be different from the top end or the bottom end. So it's just formulating plans around what end, and obviously, you can't forget the batsman's weaknesses and strengths as well. [Learning from Sunil Narine] I think most of my success is because of him. I remember one time a couple of years ago, he called me, and he started to introduce me to looking at data and stats. And the first thing that shocked me was when he showed me the most successful lengths as a spinner. The first thing I said was that it was too short. And then he went into detail and made me understand. If you do certain things at this length, for instance, your speed and stuff like that. So most of my successes are from him. I try to pick his brain and everything in every situation that he faced, because he's basically done it all. So, every situation, if I'm ever in doubt or anything like that, he's always in my corner. I remember one time I got back from a match at one o'clock in the morning; I called and asked him if he watched the match. He said, 'No.' I said, 'Okay, go look at it on YouTube.' Get back to me and tell me what I did wrong and what I could have done better. And he did it within two. So I'm very happy to have him here."

Munro and Hales are at the crease.
Munro is on strike.
K Pierre will open the attack

0.1
K Pierre to Munro, no run, tossed up on off, Munro goes right back on the defensive push

.....

0.1
•
Pierre to Munro, no run
Flighted length ball pushes off the front foot on the track

In reply to Narper

ok Narps you are driving ...keeping one eye on you...

...........

end of over 1
5 runs
TKR: 5/0
CRR: 5.00
Alex Hales
2 (2b)


Colin Munro
2 (4b)

TKR 5/0 (1) CRR: 5

Alex Hales 2(2)
Colin Munro 2(4)

Khary Pierre
1-0-4-0

Keon Gaston, right-arm medium, comes into the attack

1.2
Keon Gaston to Hales, FOUR, short, wide and four, width on offer and Hales throws his hands on the cut, carves it uppishly and behind square on the off-side for a boundary

...........

1.2
4
Gaston to Hales, FOUR runs
breaks free! Width on offer fuller length ball shaping away, extends his arms and reaches for it, slices it through the backward point region for a boundary

1.6
4
Gaston to Hales, FOUR runs
battered! A tad fuller length ball shaping away outside off, plenty of room for Hales to slash it through the vacant cover point area



end of over 2
9 runs
TKR: 14/0
CRR: 7.00
Alex Hales
10 (7b 2x4)
Colin Munro
3 (5b)

Keon Gaston
1-0-9-0
Khary Pierre
1-0-4-0

1.6
Keon Gaston to Hales, FOUR, creamed, too full and too wide from Gaston - Hales leans across into the drive and finds the gap wide of cover, was in the air and in the gap as well

TKR 14/0 (2) CRR: 7

Alex Hales 10(7)
Colin Munro 3(5)

Keon Gaston
1-0-9-0