Knight Riders are the team in form with five wins in their last seven games
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The search for a first CPL title will hinge a lot on du Plessis' availability for this game; while they managed to make up for his absence in the batting by reintroducing Rahkeem Cornwall into the team as an opener, his absence in the field was telling, particularly evident when stand-in captain Andre Fletcher had several tense discussions with his bowlers as they tried to halt Royals' charge in the chase. It is a groin injury that he picked up on Saturday, however, and getting him fully fit by Tuesday is a near-impossible task; if he does end up playing, he is likely to be playing through injury.
Form guide
Trinbago Knight Riders WLWWW (last five completed matches; most recent first)
St Lucia Kings LWLLW
Players to watch
Team news
Sunil Narine was rested for the last group match so he will need to slot back in somewhere. Despite Isuru Udana's good showing, it could even be at his expense. The other option would be to leave out the struggling Darren Bravo.
Trinbago Knight Riders (possible): 1 Lendl Simmons, 2 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 3 Colin Munro, 4 Darren Bravo, 5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Tim Seifert, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Akeal Hosein, 9 Jayden Seales, 10 Ali Khan, 11 Ravi Rampaul
Samit Patel has endured a difficult season so far. He hasn't got the runs, he hasn't been bowling too much, and he dropped Kyle Mayers on Sunday, who led Royals to victory in the end. But his experience should still make him the first choice overseas player should du Plessis miss out. That will mean Cornwall will open alongside Fletcher.
St Lucia Kings (possible): 1 Andre Fletcher, 2 Faf du Plessis/Samit Patel, 3 Mark Deyal, 4 Roston Chase, 5 Tim David, 6 David Wiese, 7 Keemo Paul, 8 Kadeem Alleyne/Rahkeem Cornwall, 9 Wahab Riaz, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Jeavor Royal
Pitch and conditions
The first semi-final is a morning fixture. That has usually meant some assistance due to overnight moisture for the team that bowls first. This could continue to be the case on a pitch that has otherwise leaned heavily towards batting after the curator decided to shave off more grass for the final stages of the league. Rain has been a presence throughout the last week, but hasn't been heavy or persistent enough to affect matches so far.
Stats
- Kings (123 fours, 72 sixes) have scored significantly more runs off boundaries than Knight Riders (102 fours, 68 sixes) this season
- Knight Riders are the most economical team in the end overs this season, going at 8.73 so far. Kings' bowlers have leaked at 12.38 in that phase this season, with only Royals (12.52) doing worse
Varun Shetty is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
Match Preview - Kings vs Trinbago, Caribbean Premier League 2021, 1st Semi-Final - ESPNcricinfo
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