Barbados Royals v Trinbago Knight Riders CPL Tips: Royals far too big

• Royals a bet batting first

• Evans underrated on position

• Pooran and Russell options

Barbados Royals v Trinbago Knight Riders
Thursday 31 August, 00:00
TV: Live on TNT Sports

Barbados Royals v Trinbago Knight Riders team news

Royals could be boosted by the availability of Laurie Evans after the end of The Hundred. Alick Athanaze is also back in the mix. Their batting suddenly looks a lot stronger. It means Jason Holder may not be required to bat at No 3.

Probable XI: Cornwal, Mayers, Evans Athanaze, Powell, Holder, Greaves, Wickham, van der Merwe, Qais, McCoy

Tom Curran has signed a short-term deal and could make his debut in this game. Ali Khan looks the most likely to miss out. Mark Deyal was absent for the success over the Patriots. If available he might replace Chadwick Walton in the opening berth.

Probable XI: Walton, Guptill, Pooran, Tucker, Pollard, Russell, T Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Narine, Akeal, Seales

Barbados Royals v Trinbago Knight Riders pitch report

The next six matches in the tournament are at Bridgetown. In 2022 there was heavy runscoring in four out of five matches between West Indies and England with 170 the bear minimum. More than 200 could well be on the cards.

There haven't been CPL matches played at the venue since 2019 when batting was tricky. We expect runs but it may be wise to wait until after game one to be sure about the nature of the track.

Barbados Royals v Trinbago Knight Riders match odds

Barbados, ladder winers last term, are whopping outsiders at 2.506/4 with TKR 1.654/6. It is is hard to justify the gap with the potential for big runs up front.

If Royals are able to bat first they could well trade at odds-on. By which time you'll be feeling like a mug for taking a prohibitive price on TKR.

Make no mistake those sort of adds are reserved for proven T20 teams. TKR finished bottom last term, were well beaten by Kings and there's no evidence yet that they should be as skinny.

Barbados Royals v Trinbago Knight Riders player bets

Evans looks chunky at 5/16.00 with Sportsbook for a batter who could bat at No 3 for Royals. For TKR Pooran has been boosted to 4/15.00 for top bat and that could prove a popular choice given the form he's in. Russell is also under consideration at 13/27.50 while we note the 7/18.00 about top bowler. He has been used at the death before.