Having made an impressive start to their Champions League Twenty20 campaign, Kings XI Punjab will be looking to extend that winning display against Barbados Tridents on their home ground, Mohali tonight.
Punjab upstaged Hobart Hurricanes by five wickets in their opening match on Thursday with Thisara Perera leading the way taking two wickets and smashing an unbeaten 35 off 20 balls.
Star batsman Glenn Maxwell too made his presence felt with a 27- ball 43 as Punjab overcame a wobbly start to coast past the finish line in the 18th over.
It augurs well for the 2014 IPL finalists that Perera and Maxwell have hit the ground running.
Captain George Bailey believes his team can put up a better batting show than the one they displayed against Hobart when they lost four wickets with 51 runs on the board.
He said: “We (Kings XI) slotted back in really quickly. It was not our best game with the bat but we will get better.”
For Barbados, this game is their first ever in the competition and comes after they won the Caribbean Premier League T20 earlier this year.
However, the Tridents will be without domestic stars Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith, who both opted to play for their Indian Premier League sides, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings instead.
That weakens their squad significantly, but with the likes of James Franklin, Neil McKenzie and Ravi Rampaul still at their disposal, they should be a tough team to face.
Barbados captain Rayad Emrit is optimistic of his team’s chances and believes they can carry their winning displays into the CLT20 as well.
He said: “We are not intimidated. We are a good unit. We didn’t win the CPL by luck. We played good cricket throughout and if we can continue that momentum in the Champions League, I think we are going to have a good chance of reaching very far.”
