At the start of the season, the Zouks would have believed they had the required arsenal to put up a good show. However, the top-order's inability to provide the ballast and lay a solid platform hurt their chances. Shane Watson and Johnson Charles have crunched a fifty each, but have largely struggled for consistency. On occasions, Michael Hussey has weathered the storm to resurrect the innings, but has lacked the support from rest of the batsmen.
The think-tank would crave for more runs from the explosive batting line-up of Charles, Andre Fletcher and Watson. Barring Watson, who has bowled with vigour and zest to accumulate six wickets, Zouks' bowlers have been disappointing. The duo of Shane Shillingford and Morne Morkel need to raise their stakes and strike at regular intervals. Even their ground fielding has left a lot to be desired.
Their opponents, Patriots, are sailing in the same boat. Despite boasting of having the likes of Faf du Plessis, Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Thisara Perera and Brad Hodge, the Patriots have only managed to win one match against the Zouks. Even Lewis's quick-fire fifties and Tabraiz Shamsi's economical spells haven't dragged them out of the lower rungs of the table.
For the match against the Zouks, they would hope for du Plessis, Simmons and Hodge to make significant contributions. In fact, Patriots' lacklustre show in the tournament has been mainly due to the trio not pulling their weight with substantial scores. On the bowling front, too, the visitors have banked on Shasmi and Samuel Badree to nip out key batsmen in the opposition ranks. To make matters worse, Carlos Brathwaite has only played four games for them. Incidentally, the sturdy West Indian all-rounder has been picked for the first Test against India.
The visitors are already out of the reckoning to qualify for the playoffs. On the other hand, the Zouks have an outside chance of making a late charge to progress to the final stages of the tournament, but for that to happen, they need to win at least five out of their last six games and hope for other results to go their way.
When: St. Lucia Zouks vs St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots, 21st Match, July 21, 2016, 6:00 PM local
Where: Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St. Lucia
What to expect: It is expected to stay cloudy for most part of the day, but the rain might just stay away.
What they said:
"We are looking forward to go home. We are all professionals; whatever practice we get, we should manage in that," Darren Sammy said, after the Zouks hurtled towards a defeat against Barbodas Tridents.
Squads:
St Lucia Zouks: Johnson Charles, Shane Watson, Andre Fletcher(w), Michael Hussey, David Miller, Darren Sammy(c), Kyle Mayers, Grant Elliott, Derone Davis, Shane Shillingford, Kristopher Ramsaran, Delorn Johnson, Eddie Leie, Morne Morkel, Keron Cottoy, Fidel Edwards, Nitish Kumar, Keddy Lesporis, Gidron Pope, Miguel Cummins
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots: Lendl Simmons, Evin Lewis, Faf du Plessis(c), Devon Thomas(w), Jonathan Carter, Thisara Perera, Carlos Brathwaite, Brad Hodge, Krishmar Santokie, Samuel Badree, Tabraiz Shamsi, Shamarh Brooks, Tino Best, Nikhil Dutta, Alzarri Joseph, Jeremiah Louis, Kieran Powell, JJ Smuts
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