Potent Patriots battle struggling Zouks today

CPL 2019 Tournament…

Play in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League tournament is almost into its final two weeks, and things still look far from settled from the perspective of the points table.

Barring the Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW), who are sitting pretty at the top of that table, none of the sides looks certain of securing a playoff spot.
Occupying numbers three and five spots respectively, the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and the St Lucia Zouks each have a bit of work to do to strengthen their respective positions in the roster of top-four teams. They play their next match against each other, and the result could be decisive in the campaign of either side. That game is being played today, September 24th, at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in Gros Islet, St Lucia. It therefore is apposite to have a look at both teams.

St Lucia Zouks

The St Lucia Zouks have thus far played six matches in the tournament, and have just one win to their name. Thanks to that win and a wash-out, they have recorded three points and are placed second from the bottom on the points table.
While their chances at qualification are slim from this perspective, all still is not lost, because should they win all their remaining matches, it would put them in a pretty good position. This is of course difficult, but not impossible.
They have had a poor start to this tournament, with the win over the Jamaica Tallawahs being the only spike in their graph. Against the Barbados Tridents in their most recent encounter, their batsmen had failed to occupy the crease, as has thus far been the case in the whole tournament, and this resulted in them sustaining a massive 71-run loss.
Earlier, with the ball, their bowlers had done reasonably well to restrict the Tridents to a total of just 172, and their last match was washed out due to rain, although their batsmen had looked to be under pressure.
Batting first, the St Lucia Zouks had been reduced to 99 for four, before rain intervened and no further play was possible.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots
With eight points to their account, which enables them to occupy third position on the points table, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots may look well settled to qualify for the playoffs. They’ll be as desperate for a win in the upcoming contest as anyone else in the tournament. They have just two matches remaining in the league stage, but a win in any of those would secure them a berth in the playoffs.

The Patriots have had a poor start to the tournament, but with three wins in the last three matches, their fortunes appear to be improving at just the right time.
Their fantastic renaissance began with a win over their current rivals, before they picked up two crucial points against the Trinbago Knight Riders, then followed that up with a fantastic win over the Jamaica Tallawahs.
That the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots are the only team to have scored totals in excess of 200 as often as they have done speaks volumes about their superb batting order. They have in their batting line-up such potent hitters as Evin Lewis, Laurie Evans, and Carlos Brathwaite, aside from a couple of experienced and cool-headed batsmen.
Their bowling has, however, been a cause of concern; but should they improve in that department, the Patriots might well end up going all the way to the grand finale in this tournament.