Jamaica Tallawahs and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots are currently occupying the bottom two spots in the points table, but neither of them is out of the playoffs race yet. However, another couple of defeats will certainly be curtains for them, particularly for St Kitts which has lost 4 out of their 5 games so far.
Since it’s only a 6-team tournament, the positions of the teams in the playoffs race can change very quickly, but to get themselves back into contention, both these teams need to go on a bit of a winning spree.
Here are our fantasy cricket tips for match 18 of CPL 2020 –
Pitch Report
It’s most likely to be a dry surface again and the bowlers, who take the pace off the ball, will make it tricky for the batsmen to play the big hits. The batsmen will need to have their plans in place regarding the lengths and the areas they want to target. Controlled aggression is what might be needed.
Predicted XI of both teams
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots
Chris Lynn, Evin Lewis, Denesh Ramdin, Ben Dunk, Jahmar Hamilton, Nick Kelly, Rayad Emrit (C), Alzarri Joseph, Imran Khan, Jon-Russ Jaggesar and Ish Sodhi
Jamaica Tallawahs
Chadwick Walton, Glenn Phillips, Rovman Powell (C), Andre Russell, Asif Ali, Jermaine Blackwood, Carlos Brathwaite, Mujeeb ur Rehman, Sandeep Lamichhane, Fidel Edwards and Veerasammy Permaul
Top Picks
Chris Lynn has, surprisingly, proven to be a failure in this tournament, but it’s not been a case of him struggling out there in the middle or looking rusty. He has basically been worked over by the spinners early on in his innings. If he manages to survive spin early on, he might put on an exhibition of stroke-play and since he is due for a big knock, it might be a good ploy to have him in the fantasy XI for this game.
Ben Dunk has hit sixes with ease in most of the games he has played, but he would be a little disappointed with the fact that despite finding his timing, he has not been able to stretch his innings as far as he would have liked. The Aussie left-hander has not really converted his 30s into 70s, which he would like to do in this game.
Andre Russell and Asif Ali are two of the most powerful strikers of the ball, not just in the Tallawahs squad, but among all the players who are on show in the ongoing CPL. On their day, both Russell and Asif can win games on their own and even if they are struggling with their form a little bit, they are the wise picks for the fantasy, purely based on their abilities with the bat.
Sandeep Lamichhane has shown good accuracy with his lengths this season. He is quick through the air and can turn the ball both ways and the fact that he is putting the ball in the right areas as well is helping him keep the batsmen at bay.
Captaincy pick: Ben Dunk
Vice-captaincy pick: Chris Lynn
Fantasy XI: Glenn Phillips, Chris Lynn (VC), Ben Dunk (C), Nick Kelly, Asif Ali, Andre Russell, Craig Brathwaite, Ryad Emrit, Alzarri Joseph, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mujeeb ur Rahman
