Caribbean Premier League Matches 17 and 18: Toss trend crucial

• Eight from 12 won batting firt

• Runs plays on both games

• Linde too big at 10/1

Jamaica Tallawahs v Trinbago Knight Riders
Sunday 3 September, 15:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Jamaica Tallawahs v Trinbago Knight Riders team news

Tallawahs have lost their last two, including a surprising squeeze by Royals when they batted first and could muster only 160. They have added Alex Hales to the XI and he needs to help take the pressure off Brandon King in the opening berth.

Probable XI: King, Hales, McKenzie, Brooks, Reifer, Imad, Allen, Green, Amir, Irshad, Gordon

Trinbago have picked up and on the charge, winning two in a row. Their squad looks much stronger than when they started having added Tom Curran. A ton for Martin Guptill in their thrashing of Royals last time was a boost.

Probable XI: Guptill, Deyal, Pooran, Pollard, Russel, Dwayne Bravo, Rucker, Narine, T Curran, Akeal, Salamkheil

Jamaica Tallawahs v Trinbago Knight Riders pitch report

Two 190s, a 180 and 160 suggest the Kensington Oval is excellent for batting. With TKR responsible for one of the 190s and Tallawahs the 160 it's fair to reckon that the former is more reliable to bust a high par line batting first. Their batting is stacked and deep now.

Jamaica Tallawahs v Trinbago Knight Riders match odds

Eight from 12 completed matches in the tournament have been won by the side batting first. That's because the wickets have been flat up front, allowing the side batting first to hit with freedom and then let scorebaord pressure do the work in the field.

On another good batting wicket, a big gulf in price cannot be justified so we're happy to at least trade Tallawahs from 2.447/5 batting first.

Jamaica Tallawahs v Trinbago Knight Riders player bets

Keep an eye out on the price for Mark Deyal. He's returned to his opening berth and Sportsbook may make a rick. Anything from 11/26.50 is value for top TKR bat. We may revisit Andre Russell if there's no joy there for top bat.

Barbados Royals v St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
Monday 4 September, 00:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Barbados Royals v St Kitts & Nevis Patriots team news

Royals are a difficult team to predict. They have been thrashed by Kings and Trinbago in two of their last three. Between those games they were excellent against a strong Jamaica team. The opening pair of Cornwall-Mayers is just not firing.

Probable XI: Cornwal, Mayers, Athanaza, Evans, Powell, Holder, Nyeem, Clarke, van der Merwe, Qais, McCoy

Patriots are without a win in five. They're getting beaten out of sight every game, too. Will Smeed and Benny Howell have been added to the XI while George Linde has recovered from a concussion.

Probable XI: Lewis, Fletcher, Smeed, Linde, Rutherford, Bosch, Cariah, Howell, Drakes, Layne, Thomas

Barbados Royals v St Kitts & Nevis Patriots team news

Patriots are conceding bang on ten an over so fingers crossed Royals get the opportunity to bat first. If they do, we're playing more than 180 on the innings runs at 2.1011/10.

Barbados Royals v St Kitts & Nevis Patriots match odds

As we said above for Jamaica-Trinbago, you win the toss, you bat and you go big. The match odds market recognises that trend even in this contest which should be a mismatch.

The Royals at 1.875/6 look very cheap indeed if the toss goes their way. Even a cut to 1.804/5 makes them a good bet batting first. There's not much fun in the Patriots price to trade, though, at a surprisingly big 2.0811/10.

Barbados Royals v St Kitts & Nevis Patriots player bets

Linde batted at No 4 last time so Sportsbook's 10/111.00 that he top scores has to go down as a wrong price for top Pats bat. There's not much to beat with Evin Lewis and Andre Fletcher hugely disappointing at 13/53.60 and 3/14.00.