Caribbean Premier League Tips Matches 16 and 17: Back Kings' power to test Trinbago in chase

Antigua & Barbuda Falcons v St Lucia Kings CPL Tips

Click here for Antigua & Barbuda Falcons v St Lucia Kings odds
Wednesday 26 August, 00.00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

This contest affords a rare glimpse of the Barbados Royals who, three weeks into the tournament, have played just twice.

Both of those were wins. They have beaten St Lucia Kings by nine runs and Jamaica by five. It could be, then, that they are significant force. Their lack of action may benefit them in reaching the play-offs, which will be played at their home ground.

They are set up for spin. Skip Chris Green, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Gudakesh Motie and George Linde are all canny operators. Although not all will play (Linde porbbaly misses out for Daniel Sams), the Royals' strength is clear.

This should be a stern test, though. Falcons have beaten Trinbago and were briefly top before being outclassed by Guyana. They remain one of the most well-balanced teams in the tournament. They are more pace heavy than spin, with Alzarri Joseph and Jayden Seales paired together, but they still have Shadab Khan as their pivotal player. Oddly he didn't bowl against Guyana.

 The North Sound pitch has, historically, been a little slow. It could be that after decent rungetting in the first two matches there, the traffic is causing a slowdown. Falcons managed only 116 against Guyana.

Royals could well put on a squeeze with their army of spinners so unders 167.5 in the first-innings for runs makes sense. It's the same quote as Royals' total runs for the match.

Trinbago Knight Riders v St Lucia Kings CPL Tips

Click here for Trinbago Knight Riders v St Lucia Kings odds
Thursday 27 August 00.00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Trinbago, the holders, have lost two from three and they may be starting to feel the pressure. They come up against a St Lucia Kings side who have been bolstered by overseas arrivals.

Tim Seifert, of course, is the headline signing. He finished second to Mitch Marsh on the top runscorer charts in The Hundred. His aggressive striking in the powerplay is just what Kings need.

They have added further batting firepower in the form of South African Obus Pienaar. Pienaar hit 34 from 14 to down Kingsmen. It's smart recruitment from Kings, who brought in Pienaar as a replacement for Noor Ahmad. It's not like-for-like but they recognised their squad weakness and covered it.

Pienaar is 10/111.00 for top Kings bat. That has appeal with Seifert now prohibitively short at 7/42.75.

Noor would be useful with his spin but with Maheesh Theekshana performing so well they might not miss him.

Kings do appear to be underrated in this one. They have won three from six and could well give an out-of-sorts Trinbago side a run for their money. Kings are not a 2.486/4 side. There is a toss bias for the chaser in trinidad so we keep that onside

Trinbago are still without key all-rounder Justin Graves. A groin injury looks likely to keep him out of the tournament. This will be the second-successive CPL that he has missed.

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