The Caribbean Premier League moves onto the business end of the tournament with the play-offs starting in Thursday in Basseterre.
The Amazon Warriors and Jamaica Tallawahs meet for a place in the final while the loser will get a second chance, taking on the winner of the St Lucia Zouks and Trinbago Knight Riders contest.
Here are the last 12 scores at Warner Park (1-2 denoting game won by side bat 1st or 2nd): 162-2/203-1/164-2/146-2/170-1/158-2/135-2/199-1/118-2/149-2/202-1/148-1.
And here we preview the teams hopeful of lifting the trophy…
Jamaica Tallawahs 2.8 Paddy Power
Does Jamaica’s winning streak give them a false position as favourites in the market? Twice at Lauderhill they were beaten by the resurgent Zouks and away from their Kingston stronghold they were middle of the road.
What was surprising about those defats was that their batting failed twice in chases. Ordinarily you would expect a team including the likes of Messrs Gayle, Sangakkara and Russell to make better fists of targets of 207 and 195 but they were never really in the hunt.
When the batting fails to fire, we worry about them because their bowling can be profligate on decent tracks, as proved by those two scores.
They play in the first play-off against the Amazon Warriors and they may well need the second bite of the cherry.
Guyana Amazon Warriors 3 Totesport, Betfred, BetVictor, William Hill, Marathon
The Warriors were a side we thought might struggle away from their Providence home. The wicket there is tacky and slow and ideally suited for their slow bowlers. The loss of Martin Guptill to international duty was also a blow.
But they have coped admirably. The signing of Nic Maddinson, the Aussie hitter, has been a boost although Chris Lynn’s run-getting and Jason Mohammed’s starring role have been the more important contributions.
Their bowling relies on three absolute knockouts. Sohail Tanvir, Adam Zampa and Rayad Emrit, the new skipper, have an incredible 44 wickets between them. They are Nos 2, 3 and joint fourth on the overall lists.
With the wicket for the playoffs expected to help the bowlers rather than the hitters, they are well placed for a final tilt. They finished top of the section and should rightly be jollies. They are the standout bet here for us. You can place your bets at green listed bookmakers such as William Hill.
St Lucia Zouks
The Zouks have taken everybody by surprise in this tournament. Largely because they were the forgotten team. By July 20 – almost a month in – they had played just four times, losing three of them.
Defeats by the Barbados Tridents and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots were hardly portents of what was to come. They have not looked back.
Five victories came from six matches and they have beaten every team in the competition at least once.
Johnson Charles is the top bat in the tournament while Andre Fletcher and Shane Watson are at Nos 5 and 6. The irrepressible Darren Sammy is just one spot from making the top 20 with both bat and ball.
But in T20 we have to be wary. They have blitzed teams but how long can the hot streak continue? They will have to win three straight to lift the trophy.
That would give them a record of eight wins from nine games. It’s not improbable but it is extremely hard to be that consistent in what is a helter skelter format. Remember: it can take one bad or good over to decide a game.
Trinbago Knight Riders 5 Bet365, Skybet, Boylesports, Paddy Power, William Hill
Trinbago qualified with ease in the end such were the pathetic challenges put forward by the Barbados Tridents and the Patriots. The champions had a 50-50 record and failed to inspire in the Florida leg of the jamboree.
They produced a terrible effort with ball and then bat against the rags the Patriots before redeeming themselves somewhat with a comfortable victory over their same opponents.
They are, however, well equipped for the wicket at Basseterre which should suit their bowling unit. Sunil Narine and Dwayne Bravo are extremely dangerous. Hashim Amla, the South African bat, is ideally equipped to find the gaps when it’s their turn to post a score.
They won at Providence with a brilliant show and it could well be they make the final to defend the crown against the Warriors.
Denesh Ramdin being dropped by the West Indies worked in their favour while a useful not out for Brendon McCullum in his last game has restored confidence. He has been moved down to No 4 and that could be an extremely smart move to get him firing.
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