Saint Lucia Kings can take a step closer to the final of the Caribbean Premier League 2022 when they lock horns with Jamaica Tallawahs in the eliminator on Tuesday at the Providence Stadium, Guyana.
The Faf du Plessis-led Kings had a challenging start to the tournament but bounced back in style to make their third consecutive playoffs appearance in the CPL.
At the end of the league phase, St Lucia Kings finished third whereas Jamaica Tallawahs finished one position below at fourth. Both the teams had an identical record of four wins, five losses, and one no result from 10 matches.
The Kings lost four of the opening five matches before making a strong comeback and winning three on the trot. The penultimate match against Amazon Guyana Warriors ended in a defeat. Nonetheless, by then, they were almost certain of a knockout spot and that got confirmed after other results elsewhere went in their favour.
On the other hand, Jamaica Tallawahs started the season with three wins out of the first four matches. However, they have won only one match since then, a narrow six-runs victory over table-toppers Barbados Royals.
Saint Lucia Kings and Jamaica Tallawahs were all set to face off just two days back in a league stage clash. However, rain played spoilsport and the fixture got abandoned without a ball being played.
Nonetheless, the two have met once in the ongoing edition, where David Wiese’s all-round heroics helped the Kings emerge victorious. Wiese picked up two wickets and followed it up with a brisk 20 to guide the Kings home.
As far as the overall head-to-head numbers are concerned, Jamaica Tallawahs have a dominant record over the Kings, winning 11 of the 18 encounters while the Darren Sammy-coached side has registered seven victories.
An exciting run-fest is on the cards for the fans with the opening batters Johnson Charles and Bandon King of the Kings and the Tallawahs, respectively, in the form of their lives. Both the batters, who recently got selected for the West Indies T20 World Cup squad, are currently the leading run-getters in CPL 2022.
Johnson Charles has racked up 342 runs in eight matches while Brandon King has scored 326 runs in 10 games. Charles also scored a fiery 39-ball 62 in the last meeting between the two teams.
Among the bowlers, Kings’ pacer Alazrri Joseph is the top wicket-taker this season. He has taken 16 scalps in 10 matches at an average of 14.93 and a decent economy of 6.63. He picked up the wicket of star batter Rovman Powell when the two sides met earlier in the competition.
Jamaica Tallawahs might have the edge in the head-to-head record but the momentum is firmly in favour of the Kings this time around, which should help them go through on Tuesday evening.
