The 2020 Caribbean Premier League is underway and it’s been a funky first stanza for the Aotearoa contingent, dominated by runs from CPL veteran Glenn Phillips.

1) Glenn Phillips - Jamaica.

Game Tahi: 44 @ 151.72sr.

Game Rua: 58 @ 138.09sr.

3rd in runs, averaging 51 with 143.66sr. One of three players to jam a 50+ score, Phillips has been among the top run-scorers in the last two tournaments, now cruising along at the top of the charts for a third year in a row.

First game wasn't wickie, second game was wickie - I prefer seeing Phillips flying around the field like a maniac. Hits the ball really hard, all around the park. Weird angles/shots. Over pitch on a yorker attempt and he'll flick it for six over fine-leg.

2) Colin Munro - Trinbago.

Game Tahi: 17 @ 242.85sr.

Game Rua: 49* @ 106.52sr.

5th in runs, averaging 66 with 124.52sr. Standard Colin Munro stretch over these first two games as he cracked 1 four and 2 sixes in his first 7 balls of the tournament, then ... well Munro has a habit of getting bogged down in the second game which can easily be flipped into Munro taking his time depending on your perspective. Having seen good bowlers clog up Munro in international cricket, his slow start in game two was weird, yet Munro made it work to finish not-out and whack a few boundaries.

As long as runs are scored, all good. Even more so considering Munro comes in behind Lendl Simmons and Sunil Narine, then Darren Bravo and Kieron Pollard are after Munro, then Tim Seifert and Dwayne Bravo; all apart from Seifert were internationals and are T20 guns for hire. So, does Munro really need to go hundies?

3) Mitchell Santner - Barbados.

Game Tahi: 20 @ 111.11sr / 2w @ 4.50rpo in 4ov.

Game Rua: 8* @ 72.72sr.

Tied for 12th in wickets with 2w @ 9vg/4.50rpo and also tied for 20th in runs with 28 runs @ 28avg/96.55sr, Mitchell Santner's had a steady start to CPL 2020. Santner has contributed with lower-order runs in both games and could benefit from boosting his overall strike-rate up a bit. Dismissed Aussies Chris Lynn and Ben Dunk in game one. Of the 18 bowlers who have 2+ wickets, Santner has the second lowest economy rate.

Solid start, up the strike-rate and keep his economy-rate below 6rpo and Santner will be sizzling. Santner won't need big runs/wickets, just chip in every game and that's job done.

4) Scott Kuggeleijn - St Lucia.

Game Tahi: 5* @ 166.66sr / 1w @ 10.50rpo in 4ov.

Game Rua: 2w @ 8.84rpo in 3.1ov.

Tied for 5th in wickets with 3w @ 23.33avg/9.76rpo, Scott Kuggeleijn has a wicket more than Santner but Santner nabbed 3rd spot here with his all-round stuff. Dismissing two of Barbados' top-three batsmen, including Corey Anderson is a great sign for Kuggeleijn and as long as Kuggeleijn's picking up wickets with his whippy syle, his 9.76rpo is able to be absorbed. Kuggelein is the most expensive bowler who has taken 3+ wickets.

5) Ross Taylor - Guyana.

Game Tahi: 33 @ 157.14sr.

Game Rua: 9 @ 69.23sr.

11th in runs, 21avg/123.52sr. Matua Ross took Guyana from 23/2 to 73/3 in roughly 5 overs to start his CPL campaign with a lovely knock, before being run-out in a less than lovely second outing. Batting #4 in team that lacks the firepower, I'm pondering Taylor's role in the Guyana batting line up and ideally, the leading run-scorer Shimron Hetmeyer can keep the runs flowing to allow Taylor to play more of a support role.

6) Nick Kelly - St Kitts & Nevis.

Game Tahi: No play.

Game Rua: 5 @ 83.33sr.

Scoring 5 in St Kitts & Nevis' second game wasn't overly notable, however Kelly quickly got a crack in the STN 1st 11 after missing the first game. Whether that continues is the major thing to ponder here as Joshua De Silva (pakeha West Indian!) was fantastic in the first game with 41* @ 100sr, then Kelly took his #3 batting spot for the second game. Kelly looked at east in his first 6 balls of CPL cricket, although he'll have to command selection moving forward.

7) Ish Sodhi - St Kitts & Nevis.

Game Tahi: 1w @ 10rpo in 4ov.

Game Rua: 4 @ 44.44sr / 0w @ 7.66rpo in 3ov.

Tough start for Ish Sodhi as he took 1w @ 9rpo through his first two games. The second outing was much better than the first and Sodhi will need to figure out the right lengths to bowl as the shorter, quicker deliveries to tighten batsmen up can easily end up as half-trackers, plus batsmen are prepared for the wrongies from Sodhi. Rashid Khan and Imran Tahir both have 4w (four bowlers have 4+ wickets) and that's an interesting challenge for Sodhi to keep up with those two.

8) Tim Seifert - Trinbago.

Game Tahi: 2 off 3.

Game Rua: No bat.

Only one knock for Tim Seifert and it didn’t amount to much. Hopefully that stacked Trinbago line up can allow Seifert to have some fun.

9) Corey Anderson - Barbados.

Game Tahi: 0.

Game Rua: 2 @ 50sr.

2 runs and that's not enough to break into the top-48. Anderson hasn't scored 30+ in his last 8inns, all of which have been T20 innings flowing back to last summer's Super Smash. Slotting into the Barbados #3 spot, Anderson needs runs to hold on to his spot and gather some cricket confidence.

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Peace and love.