All to play for in the CPL

Which of Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica wont feature in the semi-finals?

Traditionally in the CPL, the latter half of the season is packed with dead rubbers because the top four teams often separate themselves from the bottom two in the early stages. This year, however, with the resurgence of the St. Lucia Zouks, there seems to be a three-way battle for the final two semi-final spots.

The shoot out for the final spots notwithstanding, Karthikeya takes a look at the key talking points for each side - how they are set up and how they need to finish their group stages to give themselves a solid chance in the knockouts.

#1 Trinbago Knight Riders (Played 6, Won 6, Lost 0)

As expected,Trinbago have dominated the first half of the CPL and seem a formidable unit who have all bases covered. This can mostly be attributed to them being the only team to have cracked the challenge posed by the conditions on offer, and understandably so because their entire local contingent is made up of Trinidadians.

Their MVP, Sunil Narine was the man of the match in their first two victories, contributing with bat and ball. However, the Trinbago steam train hasn’t slowed down even in his absence due to illness. Captain Kieron Pollard is leading from the front in the crunch overs and seems to be at his devastating best as he showed in his absurd knock against the Tridents. 

Pollard has been lauded for his bowling changes as captain, but arguably his most significant contribution has been mastering his own entry point. Often the premiere power hitter in a T20 team is misused or played out of position, like Andre Russell at Tallawahs. Pollard, however, has entered late enough such that he can maximize the tournament’s low quality death bowlers and just about early enough to give himself enough time to do damage. 

Trinbago’s versatility with the ball has been their other major strength. Bowlers like Khary Pierre, Narine and Dwayne Bravo have proved their ability to bowl in most stages of the innings. This has meant that one bowler having an off day does not severely impact the entire team, because there is always someone else to fill in for the role.

The only minor concern faced by Trinbago is their powerplay batting. Unusually, the powerplay has been their weakest (slowest) phase, largely due to Lendl Simmons’ lack of form. It hasn’t adversely affected them because of Darren Bravo and Colin Munro’s sparkling innings, but with pitches slowing down, making runs when the ball is hard is important.

A poorly performing team might have had to panic and send Tim Seifert to open, but all they need to do is ask Simmons to show more intent and perhaps allow Narine to face the lion’s share of deliveries when he’s back.

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#2 St. Lucia Zouks (Played 7, Won 5, Lost 2)

Given their history of finishing at the bottom, the Zouks have suprised everyone this season and a lot of credit must go to the man management of Andy Flower and Daren Sammy. 

There are multiple on-field reasons for Zouks’ turnaround - the conditions have suited them, they have shown excellent intent and tempo with the bat and importantly, have got most of their bowling matchups spot on. 

In contrast to Trinbago, Zouks have recognized that power hitting is significantly more difficult when the ball gets softer in the middle overs. To counter that, Fletcher, Cornwall and Deyal, who make up the top three, have taken an ultra aggressive approach. In the first four overs, they have gone at a strike rate of over 140, well above the tournament average.

In the middle overs, Roston Chase and Najibullah Zadran have tried to pace their innings cleverly by minimizing risks and rotating strike. Najibullah, in particular, has put his attacking instincts aside and has focused on making it to the 15 over mark. By doing this, they have ensured the platform is laid for a flourish from Mohammad Nabi at the death.

In terms of bowling, Zouks have no role overlaps as shown in the graphic above. This allows all of them to operate in a consistent role throughout the tournament and excel at what they’re best at. The combination of attacking and defensive bowlers allows them to adjust their strategy when batting or bowling first. In the five games Zouks have won, three have come batting first and two while chasing. The toss doesn’t seem to be a huge deterrent for them.

Zouks’ only concern is Daren Sammy’s batting form. He has scored a total 12 runs in 7 matches. While his captaincy has been world class, Sammy’s batting failures mean the lower order is vulnerable when Nabi does not perform, as evidenced in their collapse against the Tridents. Sammy’s batting could be beyond another revival so it may be that Javelle Glen and Kuggeleijn bat above him and chip in with some lower order runs.

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#3 Guyana Amazon Warriors (Played 7, Won 3, Lost 4)

Amongst the six teams in the tournament, Guyana have arguably under-performed the most, given the potential. Having won all their group games last season, they haven’t managed to sustain the standards they set themselves. This has clearly caused panic in the camp, leading to some changes in strategy.

Some aspects of their performance have gone from bad to good, while others have gone from bad to worse. Surprisingly, Guyana began their season with a pace-centric strategy and it soon became clear that they were unfamiliar with how to implement it. Fortunately, they quickly reverted to reconstructing the spin dynasty they built last year.

As seen in the table above, Guyana have bowled more and more spin in the first 10 overs as the tournament has progressed. This has been enabled by the exciting emerging players Ashmead Nedd and now Kevin Sinclair. With Imran Tahir finding his groove and Chris Green gaining more control as the season has gone by, the bowling is beginning to look formidable.

The other issue Guyana have solved is Nicholas Pooran’s batting position. Ross Taylor played an excellent hand at #4 in the opening fixture, but Pooran’s entry point was always going to mean he would either face limited spin, or have to fix a batting collapse. Having been promoted to #4 in the last game, Pooran unleashed his spin power hitting game with more freedom and walloped an unbeaten 100 off 45 balls. His form is a warning to the rest of the teams.

The batting around Pooran, however, is rapidly deteriorating. While Shimron Hetmyer set the stage on fire in the first two matches, he has made it to double figures only once in the last five. Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj have struggled to get past the first two overs, let alone repeat their heroics from last year.

Sherfane Rutherford’s stagnation has augmented the concerns. He has shown no signs of development in the finisher role. It may be that Guyana make a last ditch attempt by promoting Rutherford to open the innings - the role in which he started his career. It may solve their opening woes while also hope that Rutherford frees up and reaches his ceiling like Pooran did.

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#4 Jamaica Tallawahs (Played 6, Won 3, Lost 3)

Expectedly, the Tallawahs have blown hot and cold at the start of the tournament. The way their team was built, one could easily predict that they were going to be a high volatile, high variance side and they have lived up to the expectations.

However, that is no excuse for the lack of game sense the team has shown on the field at times. At the heart of their problem is their draw card - Andre Russell. Russell nearly had to carry the batting in their first few games after the top order collapsed, and then fell victim to a knee injury. More importantly, it has come down to this because the six hitters have been severely limited by their weakness - spin. Their inability to cope with the lack of boundary balls and rotate strike has been telling.

As seen in the chart above, all the batsmen except Asif Ali have an unacceptable T20 strike rate against spin, and the strangle has meant they haven’t been at their boundary hitting best. It is also no surprise that their dot ball % has been the highest in the tournament. The Tallawahs will need Jermaine Blackwood to offer a different dimension to the batting and be busy in the middle overs.

What has worked incredibly well for the Tallawahs this season is their dangerous spin duo - Mujeeb ur Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane. Mujeeb has controlled the powerplay and sometimes even the death overs, while Lamichhane has mastered the middle phase. The pair leads the wicket taking chart of the Tallawahs and are also two of the most economical bowlers in the tournament.

With spin likely to dominate once again in the second leg at Tarouba, it is imperative that Mujeeb and Lamichhane continue to perform at such a high level given the lack of support from the pace bowling unit. Only Fidel Edwards has shown excellent control with the new ball and death, which is far from surprising considering his exploits at Hampshire in the T20 Blast, while Brathwaite and Powell have been inconsistent.

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#5 Barbados Tridents (Played 7, Won 2, Lost 5)

The defending champions opened their account with a victory but are looking increasingly unconvincing as the tournament has progressed. It may be argued that their losses have all been close games, but that cannot paper the cracks that have opened up this year.

In theory one would assume the surplus of all rounders in the team would allow them to set up matchups better than most teams. However, they have not been able to define roles for each of them, which happens to be the prerequisite for setting up any matchup. 

Here is a list of some of the many fatal tactics used by the Tridents:

MATCH 2 - Elected to bat first in a DLS shortened game

MATCH 2 - Failed to split up left handers against Zouks’ four off spinners

MATCH 3 - Paired up anchors Hope and Carter in the middle overs

MATCH 3 - Did not finish Rashid Khan’s quota while Reifer conceded 47 off 4

MATCH 4 - Ignored the matchup between Nurse and Lewis

MATCH 4 - Bowled Nyeem Young at the death

MATCH 5 - Used Rashid in the spin power hitter role (not his strength)

MATCH 6 - Bowled Walsh to Pollard despite stats suggesting it was a bad idea 

MATCH 7 - Never rotated strike even in a run chase of just 93

These tactical blunders have undoubtedly turned out to be the difference in the close games the Tridents have lost. This is further supported by the fact that they are losing despite brilliant individual performances from Johnson Charles, Jason Holder, Kyle Mayers and Rashid.

If the Tridents are to force a turnaround and peak at the right time like last year, they need to begin by making personnel changes. Shai Hope and Corey Anderson look short on confidence and may be playing match losing innings at less than a run a ball. Jonathan Carter and Justin Greaves are good enough to replace them. Carter being left out is especially bizarre because of his dexterity against spin.

While the spinners have performed to their potential, the pace department is looking suspect. Holder has been exceptional in the powerplay, but an attack of Holder, Mayers, Reifer and Young in other phases is a weakness that is being leveraged by all their opponents. This might be the time to bring in Keon Harding for one of the allrounders to balance out their XI. Harding is an exciting prospect who can generate extra pace and offer something different from the rest.

Finally, a reshuffle of the batting order is needed. To avoid getting outsmarted like they did against Zouks in their second match, it might be wise to maintain a left-right combo at all times. The alternative would be to pinch hit with Rashid Khan or Ashley Nurse to give them a head start and push the rest of the batsmen down by one position.

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#6 St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots (Played 7, Won 1, Lost 6)

As expected, the Patriots have by far been the worst performing team in the tournament and would need a miracle to finish anywhere but last place. While their think tank hasn’t been as confused as the Tridents, they simply do not have the resources to outperform other teams.

The table above encapsulates the chaos in the Patriots batting order as they tried to recuperate from the loss of Fabian Allen. They have struggled to come up with a winning formula or even their best XI. In hindsight, one could argue they should have recognized it was a resources problem and stuck to one strategy hoping players get comfortable with it later.

While Lewis has sparkled at times, Lynn failed to live up to his big hitter reputation as his weaknesses against spin were severely exposed. Ramdin and Da Silva have had mixed success with their anchor role while Dunk has converted none of his starts into a 50. 

In terms of their bowling, poor recruitment has once again hurt them. Despite knowing spin was going to dominate the tournament, Patriots used most of their first picks for pace bowlers who have been ineffective barring captain Emrit. In their last few games, Jon-Russ Jaggesar and Imran Khan have been brilliant, but Alzarri Joseph, Sohail Tanvir and Sheldon Cottrell have leaked too many runs for any sustained pressure to be built.

Ish Sodhi has been a massive disappointment as well. In a tournament ruled by spin, he by far has the worst numbers for any spinner in the tournament. With nothing to lose at the end of the season, Patriots may be better off giving more opportunities to Da Silva, Dominic Drakes, Colin Archibald and Joseph in an attempt to build a young core for future seasons. 

Karthikeya Manchala

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