Warriors should easily advance to yet another final
Chris Green and his men are expected to make light work of the St Lucia Zouks today when the two sides meet in the second semifinal of this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The Warriors’ path to the final is slightly easier than the other possible finalists in Trinbago Knight Riders and the Jamaica Tallawahs.
The former has been the form team of the tournament having won all 10 of their group stage matches while Tallawahs - which won three of their 10 encounters - is a dangerous prospect in the knock out stages of the tournament with the likes of Andrew Russell, Rovman Powell, Glen Phillips, and Carlos Braithwaite in their armory.
These men are all capable of being match-winners on any given day for a team that has struggled.
Nonetheless, Warriors in presumptuous fashion, would argue that they would take on anyone en-route to a possible maiden title triumph but I beg to differ - Zouks are less of a challenge.
Zouks and Warriors have faced each other twice during the bubble in Trinidad with both teams sharing the honours. Zouks won the first encounter by 10 wickets while Warriors bounced back at the tail end of the tournament by getting past their counterparts by seven wickets during their four-match winning streak.
At the end of the preliminary round of matches, they both ended on 12 points thereby setting up the semi-final clash.
Warriors, however, should feel slightly better heading into the contest. For starters, batting sensation Shimron Hetmyer, who began the tournament with back- to- back half- centuries but whose form took a dip during the tournament, has regained his touch. However, its the way he has gotten his runs too that has most Warriors fans hopeful.
He has employed much more restraint and has batted according to the situation of the match in the last two contests where he scored 56 and 32 not out, respectively.
Nicholas Pooran, since his century, hasn’t lit up the scorecard in quite the same fashion but one can find comfort in his ability while the other role players in Chandrapaul Hemraj who is showing signs of improved touch, and the experienced Ross Taylor can be relied on.
Warriors opening combination is still a bit of worry with Brandon King being a shadow of the man he was in 2019. Warriors, as I’ve advocated for before, may need to send Sherfane Rutherford at the top of the order as a wild card or show faith in King. The bowling, on the other hand, is quite settled, however, one may question the exclusion of young Ashmead Nedd who bowled quite well in four outings before being dropped.
Having made a case for Warriors to steamroll Darren Sammy’s men, the St Lucia unit does have players who can spring a few surprises if the Warriors are caught napping. The experienced Andrew Fletcher is one to watch with the bat while Kesrick Williams and the skipper himself are all big day performers.