St Lucia Kings v Antigua & Barbuda Falcons CPL Tips
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Saturday 15 August, 00.00
TV: Live on Sky Sports
This could be a watershed game for both Kings and Falcons. The winner will be boosted and could go on and stake a strong claim for qualification. The loser may be destined to grub around the fringes.
The markets favour Kings, who were beaten by Patriots last time out following a win over Falcons in their first game. Obviously the odds have been swayed by the head-to-head but the defeat by Patriots has alarm bells ringing.
Pats are reliably poor but it wasn't much of a contest as the defeat came with 14 balls to spare and five wickets still to get. Andre Fletcher produced an innings akin to a Sunday morning stroll to get the game won, striking at just 117.
Before a ball was bowled we were worried about Kings' batting. And that included Tim Seifert, who remains with Manchester Super Giants. Ackeem Auguste and Jewel Andrew need to step up as the domestic talent, while Charith Asalanka is a strange pick at No 5 when acceleration is required.
Falcons have more about them with three firestarters up front in Rahkeem Cornwall, Evin Lewis and Tim Robinson. With the ball, Alzarri Joseph, Jayden Seales and Usama Mir are a varied and potent trio. They still have Amir Jangoo and Moeen Ali to come in as options. Shadab Khan won't join until the 19th.
Currently they are to go off at around the 2.1511/10 mark on the Betfair Exchange. That would rate the wager as this should at least be a choice affair.
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Jamaica Kingsmen v Trinbago Knight Riders CPL Tips
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Sunday 16 August 01.00
TV: Live on Sky Sports
Jamica's brave new world has come crashing down around them. Three games into the CPL season for the new franchise and they are almost certain to need to win all their remaining games to stand a chance of qualifying for the top four.
They lost two tight matches to Falcons, in the opener, by two wickets off the last ball. They were then on the wrong end of a five-run loss to Barbados. Guyana didn't give them a sniff, though, razing the Kingsmen batting for 117 and winning with six wickets and more than five overs to spare.
It is not a huge surprise they are struggling. A glance at their XI and then the respective win rates on top batter and bowler over the last two years suggests they have assembled a team with almost no reliability. There are few consistent players to bet on individually so it stands to reason that as a collective they are three-zip.
Kingsmen couldn't have wished for a worse opponent than holders Trinbago to try to keep their season alive. Particularly as TKR are now bolstered by the arrival of the captain and coach duo in Nic Pooran and Kieron Pollard.
A well-balanced and TKR side full of nous should be far too strong. Of course the match odds market knows this. The early Betfair Exchange odds have TKR as short as 1.364/11. That will come up but it would be a surprise if they get bigger than 1.608/13.
We await the Betfair Sportsbook derivative markets, hoping for 11/102.11 that TKR hit most sixes and win the match.