CPL TEAM OF THE WEEK: Who joins Chandrapaul Hemraj and Roston Chase?

The Cricketer identifies the standout displays from the past seven days of Caribbean Premier League action

cpltotw06092101

Faf du Plessis (St Lucia Kings)

Faf du Plessis scored the first century of the 2021 CPL during his side’s 100-run victory over St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, smashing 120 not out off just 60 deliveries, including 13 fours and five sixes. It was the highest T20 knock of the  37-year-old’s career and just his second triple-figure knock in the format. Certainly enough of a reason to overlook his otherwise poor form in the competition to date.

Chandrapaul Hemraj (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

The 28-year-old opener scored his maiden T20 century – and just his third 50+ knock in the format – against Barbados Royals, smashing 105 not out from 56 balls, including 14 fours and five sixes, to help his side chase down 130 inside 15 overs. Hemraj’s century was the second to be scored on September 5 (after du Plessis’) while he also bowled one over for the loss of just two runs.

Roston Chase (St Lucia Kings)

Mr Consistency. In his past three matches, Roston Chase has scored three half-centuries, with a top score of 85 against Guyana Amazon Warriors, and taking 2 for 53 from eight overs. In two of those matches, he took home player of the match honours and only missed out on a hat-trick because of du Plessis’ century (Chase scoring 64 not out off 31 balls as part of a 124-run stand with the South African).  Unsurprisingly, he is the Kings’ leading run-scorer and places second in their wicket-taking standings, with six

Imad Wasim (Jamaica Tallawahs)

Pakistan international Imad Wasim has only made one appearance for the Tallawahs this season but made an immediate impact. Against Trinbago Knight Riders, he scored 42 runs off 38 deliveries to offer vital middle-order support to Carlos Brathwaite and Andre Russell, and also collected 2 for 19 with the ball – the only player other than Russell to concede fewer than six runs per over. An automatic pick from now on you’d think.

faf06092101

Faf du Plessis celebrating his century against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots

Azam Khan (Barbados Royals)

23-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman Azam Khan is carrying the Barbados Royals batting. Against the Tallawahs, he scored 50 runs off 23 deliveries, including five fours and three sixes, in a textbook demonstration of his wrecking ball batting before playing a measured 28 off 26 balls against Guyana Amazon Warriors two matches later to once again top-score for his side. The second knock is not a headline grabber but showed his grit and determination on a difficult day for the Royals.

Carlos Brathwaite (Jamaica Tallawahs)

Carlos Brathwaite hasn’t always been at his free-scoring best this season and the Tallawahs are quite over-reliant on his boundaries. However, he has returned to form in his past two outings, scoring 27 off 16 balls against St Kitts and 58 off 40 against Trinbago Knight Riders. A promising sign for the Tallawahs for the remainder of the competition.

Dwayne Bravo (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots)

37-year-old Dwayne Bravo is rolling back the years with a team-leading eight wickets in six appearances. Sure, he took a bit of a pasting against the Kings (0 for 50) but his two outings prior to that yielded 4 for 26 against the Royals and 3 for 25 against the Tallawahs. There’s life in the old seamer yet.

rampaul06092101

Ravi Rampaul is the competition's leading wicket-taker

Odean Smith (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

In the space of four days, Odean Smith took 0 for 28, 3 for 22 and 1 for 22 for Guyana Amazon Warriors as well as scoring 31 not out against St Lucia Kings. It was the highest score of his T20 career, coming off 18 balls and including four sixes. Only Romario Shepherd (11) and Imran Tahir (nine) have taken more wickets for Guyana than Smith (seven) this season.

Romario Shepherd (Guyana Amazon Warriors)

Speaking of Romario Shepherd, he comes into this XI at number nine. Against Barbados Royals he picked up 2 for 33 from his fours overs. Two days prior, he took 3 for 31 against St Lucia Kings. However, his best performance of the past seven days came against Trinbago Knight Riders where he took 3 for 24 with the ball and scored 18 off 9 balls with the bat before coming back on to bowl in the Super Over and conceding just four runs to win the match.

Ravi Rampaul (Trinbago Knight Riders)

This position in the team could easily have gone to Rampaul’s teammates Sunil Narine or Akeal Hosein. Both have bowled economically in their previous three outings as well as taking four wickets apiece. However, it’s the 36-year-old who gets the nod after returning figures of 3 for 34, 4 for 29 and 2 for 26 against the Kings, Guyana Amazon Warriors and Jamaica Tallawahs, respectively. He is the leading wicket-taker in the competition, with 15 wickets and an economy of 7.15.

Jeavor Royal (St Lucia Kings)

22-year-old spinner Jeavor Royal forced his way into the Kings XI on August 29 and has gone on to take two three-fers in his four appearances to date. Against St Kitts, he returned figures of 3 for 20, removing Evin Lewis, Andre McCarthy and Asif Ali, while against Guyana Amazon Warriors he swept up at the tail, dismissing Shepher, Naveen Ul Haq and Gudakesh Motie to finish with figures of 3 for 19.

Comments

No comments received yet - Be the first!

LATEST NEWS

STAY UP TO DATE Sign up to our newsletter...
SIGN UP

Thank You! Thank you for subscribing!

Units 7-8, 35-37 High St, Barrow upon Soar, Loughborough, LE128PY

website@thecricketer.com

Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.