St Lucia Stars face

St. Lucia Stars will have their hands full when they come up against a Guyana Amazon Warriors on their home turf, the Providence National Stadium this afternoon in the fourth match of the 2018 HERO Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Both teams had contrasting opening matches with the Stars imploding to a 100-run defeat at the hands of 2015 champions, Trinbago Knight Riders while Guyana defeated Chris-Gayle’s St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots by six wickets with 21 balls to spare in their chase of 145.

Skipper of the Warriors, Shoaib Malik had declared his high expectations of home boys, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford prior to the start of the competition. All three stepped up to the plate in familiar conditions in the opening match.

Hetmyer battered a match winning 79 not out from 45 balls while Paul bowled with control and precision, claiming 2-16 in his four overs.

But, with the likes of David Warner, Andre Fletcher and former Amazon Warriors, Lendl Simmons along with homeboy Chandrapaul Hemraj, the top heavy Stars will be a handful to deal with.

With the top solid, the skipper, Kieron Pollard, has always been an outside the box thinker and can pull a rabbit out of the hat at any given time. With the assistance from former Stars captain and two-time World T20 captain, Darren Sammy, providing valuable experience, the Stars are not to be underestimated and can hurt teams if their plans come off.

Warriors’ batting line up is an imposing one with Luke Ronchi and Chadwick Walton at the top off the order. Stars will be tempted to shelter Kesrick Williams from Walton after the Warriors opener unleashed a battering on the medium pacer in what was dubbed the revenge of the season since Williams had gotten Walton in their first confrontation.

Hetmyer has hit a rich vein of form and has shown Providence is his hunting ground. He will want to replicate that