With two losses from as many games in this the seventh edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Jamaica Tallawahs will be hoping to turn their fortunes around against St Lucia Zouks in the first of five games on home soil at Sabina Park today.

The Tallawahs, like the Zouks, are pointless from two outings and will be confident of securing their first two points of the 2019 campaign this evening.

First ball is scheduled for 6:00 pm.

Despite a disappointing four-wicket loss to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in a record-breaking contest at Warner Park on Tuesday, Jamaica Tallawahs will enter today’s fixture with their tails high, given the current form of the destructive Chris Gayle and Chadwick Walton at the top of the order.

After scoring only 28 in their opening contest where they succumbed to a 22-run defeat to Trinbago Knight Riders, both Gayle and Walton exploded on Tuesday with scores of 116 and 73, respectively.

New Zealand wicketkeeper/batsman Glenn Phillips will also be aiming to find his range here in Jamaica, having in the past shown a liking to the Sabina Park pitch, while explosive all-rounders Andre Russell and Rovman Powell will also be hoping to entertain the home crowd.

Head coach Donovan Miller concurred.

“Obviously, it hasn’t gone as well as we would like; we lost our first couple of games but I think we’re still playing some good cricket and I know we are very excited to be home and we’re just looking to start winning some games.

“Lots of cricket left to play, it’s only the start of the tournament; obviously TKR (Trinbago Knight Riders) and the (Guyana Amazon) Warriors have won all of their home games, so I think we have to take a leaf out of their book and try and do that here,” Williams said.

However, while the batting has performed, the bowling has been atrocious and will require significant improvement if the Tallawahs are to get across the line.

Still, stand-in Captain Rovman Powell believes there is no real cause for panic just yet.

“To be honest, the bowling is of little concern, you know, but it’s still something that we have to pay attention to going forward. I think it is just for us to keep improving, keep nailing our yorkers, keep going to our skill sets a little bit earlier and I think we didn’t do that yesterday (Tuesday). So let’s not panic, as a team we just continue to do the things that we have done right and hopefully the bowling unit will come good.”

However, Miller took a different viewpoint and hinted at possible changes, with the arrival of Afghanistan spinner Zahir Khan, in order to strengthen the bowling attack.

“Yes, we spoke about that on the plane coming back home. I know we have Zahir Khan coming in, which will kind of strengthen the spin bowling department; he arrives tomorrow (today) and if he’s fit, he will be considered a selection. And then there’s one of the young Derval [Green] on the bench as well who is an option, so we will look into it and see how we go again tomorrow (today).”