TKR, Tridents ready for heavyweight clash

Hero Caribbean Premier League 2016

Tonight a carnival atmosphere is expected at the Queens Park Oval as Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) clash between Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and Barbados Tridents promises to be a very competitive encounter.

The two giants are set to meet time since 2015 finals which was won by Trinbago Knight Riders it is billed to be one of the biggest match since the season opened on Wednesday.

With the inclusion of AB de Villiers and the likes of Shoaib Malik and Kieron Pollard, the Tridents are expected to open their campaign on a positive note. Meanwhile TKR who lost the opening game against the St. Lucia Zouks, will be looking to register their first win.

The host’s batting is strong with the likes of Hashim Amla, Brendon McCullum, Darren Bravo and Colin Munro expected to play important roles while the Tridents will look to the exploits of their all-rounders Shoaib Malik, Keron Pollard, Jason Holder and others along with batting from AB de Villiers.

The previous meetings put the teams evenly matched, with each team winning three games from six matches. So the big question is who will go ahead tonight?

According to a CPL blog, yesterday the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) Chief Mentor Jacques Kallis and Barbados Tridents Captain Kieron Pollard faced the media to look ahead to what is set to be an enthralling affair between the 2014 and 2015 champions.

Pollard, who led the Tridents to the 2014 title in St. Kitts & Nevis, spoke about the developments in his squad in the close season, the recruitment of AB de Villiers and the influence of Shoaib Malik as they gear up for their opening clash of the 2016 campaign. The 29-year-old West Indies international also expressed his excitement about coming back to play once more in his homeland.

Ex South African all-rounder Kallis talked about the lessons learned from Thursday night’s six-wicket defeat to St. Lucia Zouks and discussed the influence of his countrymen on Friday night’s proceedings, most notably the prolific de Villiers who is primed to make his CPL debut.

The match is scheduled to get underway at 21:00 hrs.

TRINBAGO KNIGHT RIDERS: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Brendon McCullum, Darren Bravo, Sunil Narine, Hashim Amla, Umar Akmal, Kevon Cooper, Sulieman Benn, Colin Munro, Anton Devcich, Ronsford Beaton, Nikita Miller, Javon Searles, William Perkins, Yannick Cariah, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Hamza Tariq, Anderson Phillip

BARBADOS TRIDENTS: Kieron Pollard (captain), AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Nicholas Pooran, Jason Holder, Ravi Rampaul, David Wiese, Robin Peterson, Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse, Wayne Parnell, Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Kyle Hope, Navin Stewart, Kyle Corbin, Steven Taylor, Shamar Springer.