The T20 extravaganza in the Caribbean islands will come to an end on Sunday when Barbados Tridents will lock horns with Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2015 Final at the Queen's Park Oval, Port of Spain.
An upbeat Red Steel won five out of their last six games to cruise into the finals. The Dwayne Bravo-led side fought really hard to achieve this feat.
Initially Red Steel lost a chance to seal a spot in the final after conceding to Guyana Amazon Warriors in the last game of the group league. That pushed the Tridents into the final.
As a result, Red Steel had to play an eliminator against Jamaica Tallawahs. They won that game comfortably. After that, they took on the Warriors again. They did avenge their defeat in the last game of the group league by thrashing the Warriors in the semi-final of the CPL 2015 and thereby setting up a clash against the dangerous Tridents in the big final on Sunday.
The Bravo brothers have been brilliant, especially Dwayne Bravo, who now has picked up 28 wickets in 12 matches with the strike rate of 12.71. Meanwhile, his younger brother Darren Bravo is no less with the willow in his hands. He scored 282 runs in 11 innings with the strike rate of 134.93.
#RedSteel captain Dwayne Bravo: "A lot of people never gave us a chance. The fans give us an extra boost!" #CPL15 https://t.co/0e80RHrDY7
— CPL T20 (@CPL) July 26, 2015
On the other hand, big Kieron Pollard led from the front and has been one of the most crucial players for the Tridents. He also scored 282 runs in just nine innings with a strike rate of 141 and picked up 12 wickets as well. His all-round abilities make him one of the best in business.
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC Ian Bishop on Kieron Pollard: "He leads with passion and he leads with energy." #CPL15 pic.twitter.com/e1aJe8066y — CPL T20 (@CPL) July 18, 2015
Tridents are one of the most dangerous sides in the tournament. They also feature the likes of Dwayne Smith, Misbah-ul-Haq and Ravi Rampaul in their side.
They are surely going to miss the services of Pakistani international Shoaib Malik who started off really well in the tournament. Malik had an average of over 52 and scored 202 runs in just six innings that he played for the Tridents at the start of the tournament. At this moment, he is featuring in the ODI series against Sri Lanka.
The final of the CPL 2015 between Barbados Tridents and Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel is all set to be a cliff-hanger in front of a packed Queen's Park Oval. Riding on a winning momentum, Red Steel will also have the advantage of the home crowd. It will be rather interesting to see how Pollard and company deploy their tactics in what is likely to be a cracker-jacker of a game.
Expected Lineups:
Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel: Jacques Kallis, Cameron Delport, Darren Bravo, Kamran Akmal(w), Dwayne Bravo(C), Johan Botha, Kevon Cooper, Derone Davis, Samuel Badree, Sulieman Benn, Jason Mohammed.
Babados Tridents: Dwyane Smith, Steven Taylor, Misbah ul Haq, Robin Peterson, Kieron Pollard, Jason Holder, Rayad Emrit, Ashley Nurse, Ravi Rampaul, Imran Khan.
Where to Watch Live:
The Final of the Hero Caribbean Premier League 2015 between Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel and Barbados Tridents is scheduled for 4:30pm local time (2am IST, 9:30pm BST) start with the live coverage in India on Sony Six and Sony Six HD. Viewers can also stream the match live in Livsports.
Viewers in the US can switch to ESPN 3 and stream the same on Watch ESPN.
