The action in the 2020 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) seems to be intensifying with each passing week and the upcoming week of action isn’t expected to be any different. Both batsmen and bowlers have been making their presence felt with match-winning performances and more of the same can be expected in week 3 of the CPL. Here, we have a look at a few players worth keeping an eye on in the upcoming week of action.
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Glenn Phillips
The South African-born wicketkeeper-batsman is the leading run-getter in the CPL (207 runs) this season and is averaging 41.40 at a striker rate of 127.78. Glenn Phillips was in particularly devastating form in the Jamaica Tallawahs’ last match against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. He scored an unbeaten 79 and it was an important knock that ended a run of three consecutive losses for Jamaica. The score was Phillips’ second fifty of the ongoing season and it’s important for Jamaica that he gets going since the chances of his team doing good improves drastically when the right-hander, who has hit the second-most sixes so far (15), gets going.
Nicholas Pooran
The only batsman to have scored a century this season, Guyana Amazon Warriors’ Nicholas Pooran may have been slightly hit and miss so far but it’s safe to say that once he does get his eye in, stopping him in full flow is an unenviable task. He scored an unbeaten hundred for the Warriors in his last outing for them and also has a fifty to his name this season. With a strike rate of 152.59 – the second-highest in CPL 2020 after Kieron Pollard – getting Pooran’s wicket nice and early is important from the opposition point of view or else they risk him wreaking havoc on their bowlers.
Kyle Mayers
The 27-year-old all-rounder has looked sharp for Barbados Tridents and has contributed more often than not with either bat or ball. Kyle Mayers has the highest score of 85 and has gotten starts in most of his innings for the Tridents this year. A powerful striker of the ball, he’s fourth on the list for most sixes hit (13) so far and has it in him to completely alter the complexion of a game with a few lusty blows. Mayers can also chip in with the ball when required and has taken two wickets in CPL 2020.
Mujeeb Ur Rahman
The leading wicket-taker (13) so far despite playing a game fewer than most of the other bowlers, the right-arm off-break spinner from Afghanistan has been spinning webs around batsmen in the Caribbean to leave them spellbound. Mujeeb Ur Rahman’s stunning bowling average of 7.15 is the best this season and he also has a strike rate of 11.08 – the second-best in the league. He has picked up a wicket in each of the Tallawahs’ games this season and is likely to continue in a similar vein of form in the upcoming matches.
Mohammad Nabi
St Lucia Zouks’ Mohammad Nabi is the only bowler to have claimed a fifer this season after a match-defining spell of 5 for 15 against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. He was awarded the Player of the Match for the game and it was the second time this season that he was given the award after also picking it up in the earlier match against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in CPL 2020. Capable of contributing with the bat as well, Mohammad Nabi’s temperament under pressure is another great asset for his team to have. His bowling average of 11.40 in the CPL has only been bettered by his countrymen Mujeeb Ur Rahman this year.
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