All at stake as evenly matched Zouks, Knight Riders take on each other

These were St Lucia Zouks' position in the points table in the last three edition of Caribbean Premier League. Needless to say, they've under-performed. However, after three disappointing seasons, they have the opportunity to set the record straight. Better late than never.

First up against them are the Trinbago Knight Riders, the defending champions. Zouks have won five of their last six games. However, their only loss came against Knight Riders. This clash gives them a golden opportunity to not only live to fight another day, but also to knock the defending champions out of contentions.

Darren Sammy has revived the team's chances with both bat and ball, but it has been far from a one man show. Johnson Charles has over 400 runs, Andre Fletcher over 280. Shane Watson is the highest wicket-taker for them with 12 wickets in addition to the 283 runs he has scored. One thing is clear - Knight Riders will face a stern test.

Knight Riders, on the other hand, have been inconsistent at best. They have not been able to string together three consecutive wins in a row so far, and ended the league phase with five wins from 10 matches.

Brendon McCullum's form will be a concern for the think-tank going into this all-important contest.

However, Hashim Amla, Colin Munro and Dwayne Bravo have stepped up for them. Denesh Ramdin, who was a late inclusion in the squad, has shown he's still capable of finishing games, while Umar Akmal has sparkled to show glimpses of his class.

Their bowling revolves around Sunil Narine and Bravo. What has been disappointing is the the form of other bowlers. Kevon Cooper has nine wickets to his name, but Sulieman Benn (4), Nikita Miller (1) and Ronsford Beaton (1) have been outperformed by Anton Devcich.

There are no clear favorites walking into the Eliminator. Zouks have momentum with them, while Knight Riders play with a certain panache that can take down any opposition.

When: St Lucia Zouks vs Trinbago Knight Riders, Eliminator, August 4, 07:00pm local time (4:30 am IST +1 day)

When: Warner Park, St Kitts

Team news:

St Lucia Zouks: Sammy and his men trounced Jamaica Tallawahs, the table-toppers, in consecutive matches before this game. It's highly unlikely they'll tinker with the winning combination and are expected to go in with the same playing XI.

Trinbago Knight Riders: William Perkins has been suspended by the CPL for the remainder of the tournament after he handed his players access pass to an external party. He is the only change expected in the line-up.

What they said:

"West Indies boys are always relaxed so I don't think they are worried too much. We have been playing so great cricket. Once we were home, we got some momentum going and it was nice to carry it on in America as well. The first goal was to get in the play-offs. Now we are in here, so we have a good chance." - 
Michael Hussey, St Lucia Zouks batsman, is pretty confident about his team's chances.

"There's something I've already said to Michael (Hussey), even when we played for Chennai Super Kings. I've always said go hard or go home. This is why we play this game. We want to win and defend our title." - Dwayne Bravo, Trinbago Knight Riders captain, made his intentions pretty clear ahead of the contest.

Squads:

St Lucia Zouks: St. Lucia Zouks: Johnson Charles, Derone Davis, Andre Fletcher, Delorn Johnson, Eddie Leie, Kyle Mayers, Darren Sammy(c), Shane Watson, Keron Cottoy, Fidel Edwards, Michael Hussey, Nitish Kumar, Keddy Lesporis, Gidron Pope, Shane Shillingford, Miguel Cummins, Denesh Ramdin, Kristopher Ramsaran, Grant Elliott, Jerome Taylor.

Trinbago Knight Riders: Hashim Amla, Brendon McCullum, Colin Munro, Umar Akmal, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Dwayne Bravo(c), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Kevon Cooper, Sunil Narine, Nikita Miller, Ronsford Beaton, Sulieman Benn, Yannic Cariah, Anton Devcich, Hamza Tariq, Anderson Phillip, Javon Searles.