CPL DAILY: Champions back in action and Russell takes on Narine

The Cricketer looks ahead to all the action on the field, and runs down recent developments off it, ahead of the third day of the Caribbean Premier League

Isn’t it good to have T20 cricket back up and running?

The double-headers are coming thick and fast. Here’s what you can expect from Thursday's fixtures…

Who is playing?

Four teams are in action, each with their own little quirks about them. Jamaica Tallawahs have more six-hitting power than most sides in franchise history – even without Chris Gayle, who left the franchise ahead of this season.

In his tournament preview for The Cricketer, Jarrod Kimber wrote: “Here are the names: Carlos Brathwaite, Asif Ali, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton and Andre Russell. In the last three years, T20 players hit a six every 19 balls. Walton and Powell are every 12, Brathwaite 11, Asif nine and Dre Russ 5.4.”

The numbers are outrageous; if they can click under Powell’s captaincy, the sky is the limit. One from one - they beat St Lucia Zouks on Wednesday - is the perfect start.

That said, they are due to face Brendon McCullum’s Trinbago Knight Riders – the tips of many to go all the way and win this year’s competition.

Stacked with a middle order engine room of Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, Tim Seifert and Colin Munro, they are the support act to Sunil Narine, perhaps the world’s greatest T20 player.

But before those two sides go head to head, there is a curious battle between Barbados Tridents and St Lucia Zouks: last year’s winners and wooden-spooners.

Coached by Andy Flower, they are hoping for better things this year, though they were beaten in their first game on Wednesday.

^{Sunil Narine was in fine form in Trinbago's opening win}

Anyone in particular I should watch out for?

Well, yes. Plenty. In Narine, Pollard, Russell and Bravo, there lies a quartet of some of T20’s all-time hall of famers.

And then, of course, there is the small matter of Rashid Khan – another with a claim to sit among that particular pantheon of greats.

He’s far from the only world-class leg-spinner on show, however. Both Sandeep Lamichhane and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have found themselves as key cogs in the Tallawah attack.

For the Zouks, Rahkeem Cornwall is well worth a watch at the top of the order, while there is significant intrigue in what Darren Sammy has left in the tank as a specialist finisher. Roston Chase, too, is a curious case – a fine Test cricketer, he remains inexperienced in the shortest format. But he helped himself to a half century, albeit in a losing cause against a Jamaica Tallawahs side that looked better for the experience of last year’s disappointment.

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Predictions?

Barbados to show their champion mettle against St Lucia.

Trinbago’s nous to prove too much for big-hitting Jamaica.

Where can I watch the games?

Sky Sports have the rights in the UK and are promising to show all 33 CPL fixtures on their various platforms.

You can find out more, and discover which channels are carrying the CPL elsewhere in the world, by clicking here.

What’s the weather going to be like?

There’ll be a chance of scattered thunderstorms over Trinidad throughout the day, with a 40 per cent chance of rain, but also temperature highs of 30 degrees.

The Cricketer's coverage of the CPL comes in collaboration with the Caribbean Cricket Podcast