Fantasy Picks: Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and a galaxy of T20 superstars
Fantasy suggestions from the game between Trinbago Knight Riders and Jamaica Tallawahs
ESPNcricinfo staff
20-Aug-2020
Trinbago Knight Riders v Jamaica Tallawahs, Tarouba
Our XI: Sunil Narine, Lendl Simmons, Glenn Phillips (wk), Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Dwayne Bravo, Sandeep Lamichhane, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Oshane Thomas, Fawad Ahmed
NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so do keep an eye out for the toss before making your final picks.
Captain: Sunil Narine
There is really no need to justify this - Narine opens the batting and always bowls four overs. He was the star of the first game, scoring 50 runs and taking two wickets for 19 runs. Looking in fine form, Narine.
Vice-captain: Andre Russell
Russell is the backbone of the Jamaica team. Bat high in the order and bowl four overs - from a fantasy point of view, again an obvious choice. He didn't have a great start to the tournament with the bat, but it is Russell. No long-term risks with him.
Hot picks
Dwayne Bravo: Bravo was very rusty in the first game, and is still two wickets away from 500. But he should always be in your fantasy team, since he bowls in the death. He could go for runs but Bravo usually picks up wickets, and he's just warming up. The match-up against Russell is exciting since Russell has scored 257 runs from 116 balls and has hit 23 sixes off Bravo, but Bravo has dismissed him five times too.
Sandeep Lamichhane and Mujeeb Ur Rahman: One bowls in the power play while the other bowls in the middle. If you can, pick both. Mujeeb averages similarly against left- and right-hand batsmen and has a Powerplay economy of 6.61. Lamichhane has an economy of 6.41 in the Powerplay and averages 13.20. Lamichhane also averages 20.25 in the middle overs. Together they took three wickets and conceded 48 runs in eight overs in their first match of the tournament.
Value picks
Oshane Thomas: Pace comes in handy early on and with Narine and Lendl Simmons opening for Knight Riders, watch out for those fiery bouncers. Thomas has 32 wickets and strikes once every 14 balls in the CPL. Although his economy is expensive at 9.47, his ability to take early wickets could make him a value pick.
Fawad Ahmed: Fawad bowled only three overs in the first game and conceded 26 runs. He bowled in the Powerplay and can be someone who can be among the wickets. With batsmen being a tad cautious against Narine, there will be a tendency to attack Fawad. If you want a slightly cheaper option in terms of value, Fawad could be the man.
Points to note