CPL 2016: Knight Riders aim to shrug off losing start

On paper, Trinbago Knight Riders boast of a very impressive batting line-up. With a line-up that boasts of the likes of Brendon McCullum, Hashim Amla, Colin Munro, Darren Bravo, Umar Akmal and Dwanye Bravo, it is a good mix of dashers and accumulators.

While the New Zealand duo of McCullum and Munro are more than capable of teeing off, Amla and Darren can steady the ship and contribute with flourishing strokes. Add to that the finishing power of Akmal and Dwayne, the line-up looks ominous.

However, games are not played on paper and the batting alone can't win you matches. Knight Riders found that out in the opening clash of the Caribbean Premier League 2016 where St Lucia Zouks stunned them with a six-wicket win at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad.

On that night, it was the bowling that let them down and the think-tank would hope for a much-improved performance from Ronsford Beaton, Kevon Cooper and Sulieman Benn in that respect. The dew played a role, of course, but Jacques Kallis, in the pre-match press conference, stressed on the fact that he was disappointed with the lengths his bowlers stuck to in that game. It will be surprising now if they don't work out a different plan.

While the loss came as an early wake up call, a more fired-up Knight Riders squad will take on Barbados Tridents on Friday (July 1), who will be buoyed by the addition of AB de Villiers.

The likes of Kieron Pollard, de Villiers and Shoaib Malik can hold their own against the fire-power of McCullum, Munro and the Bravos. The contest will be more about which team emerges as the better bowling side on the day.

Kallis also spoke about the dew factor and the team that'll handle it better coming out on top so it won't be surprising if both teams would want to bowl first in the clash.

When: Trinbago Knight Riders vs Barbados Tridents, Match 3, 2100 local time (06:30 IST).

Where: Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad.

Team news:

Trinbago Knight Riders: It's highly unlikely that the think-tank will ring in changes after an early loss. The hosts are likely to play the same XI.

What they said:

"He's one of the world's best batsmen in all three formats at the moment and there's no doubt he'll bring a lot of experience to their side. Hopefully he doesn't get it right tomorrow. It's always a pleasure to watch him bat and I think he'll be a big influence on the team." - Kallis is well aware of the de Villiers threat looming over his team.

"For us, at the moment, it's all about gelling together. It's franchise cricket, new guys coming in and we are trying to get the right combination. It's all about finding the team spirit as early as possible." - Pollard.

Did you know?

Knight Riders and Tridents have a 3-3 head-to-head record with a 2-0 advantage at respective home grounds.

The last meeting between the two teams was in the final of CPL 2015 when the Knight Riders (T & T Red Steel then) had the better of Tridents by 20 runs.

Tridents are the best team in the last five overs scoring at 10.13 while Knight Riders are the worst with a rate of 8.43.

Teams (from):

Trinbago Knight Riders: Dwayne Bravo, Brendon McCullum, 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.

Barbados Tridents: Kieron Pollard, AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Rampaul, David Wiese, Robin Peterson, Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse, Wayne Parnell, Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Kyle Hope, Navin Stewart, Kyle Corbin, Steven Taylor.