Trinbago Knight Riders sealed a third Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title with a commanding eight-wicket victory over Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Brian Lara Academy.
Fittingly, it was Colin Munro who hit the winning runs having become the first batsman both to pass 500 runs and then to score six half-centuries in a single Hero CPL season. His brutal 68* from 39 balls eased his team past a target of 148 after fellow New Zealander Brendon McCullum had got the run-chase off to a flying start with 39 off 24.
Munro brought up his latest 50 from just 33 balls with successive sixes off Rayad Emrit, adding a third Hero Maximum in a 27-run 17th over that effectively ended the contest.
That onslaught left just four runs needed from the last 18 balls, and after collecting two runs from the first ball of the 18th over Munro then slashed the third to the boundary to spark wild celebrations from his team-mates and in the stands.
It was the bowlers, though, who had done most of the heavy lifting to secure back-to-back titles for the Knight Riders, with the Warriors – who have now lost four Hero CPL finals – left to rue a dramatic batting collapse in the second half of their innings.
Trinbago Knight Riders put the disappointment of their Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Playoff 1 defeat to Guyana Amazon Warriors behind them with a professional 20-run semi-final win over St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.
A fine all-round bowling performance led by Australia leg-spinner Fawad Ahmed saw the Knight Riders comfortably defend a target of 166 and set up a rematch with the Warriors in the final. The Warriors have won their last two games against the Knight Riders, but Sunday’s clash is the one that matters
Not for the first time, the Knight Riders spinners were key to their success as both Sunil Narine and Fawad Ahmed proved almost impossible to get away, while even part-timer Colin Ingram made a telling contribution with the hugely important wicket of Devon Thomas, who had single-handedly put the Patriots in a strong early position with 35 of the 44 runs made before he was the second wicket to fall after seven overs.
The first went to Ali Khan, a revelation with the new ball this season, who finished off a stunning opening over with a perfect delivery to find Chris Gayle’s outside edge and send the big man back to the pavilion without scoring.
Narine and Fawad got the wickets their efforts deserved when Rassie van der Dussen chipped a return catch to Narine off a leading edge and Evin Lewis sent a slog-sweep off Fawad steepling high into the Trinidad sky to be well caught on the run by Colin Munro when it finally came back down.
Brandon King made a quick-fire 33 from 22 but when he became Narine’s second victim, bowled attempting to clear midwicket, the writing was on the wall.
Ali Khan returned to ramp up the pressure, giving up just six singles in the 15th over as the required rate climbed to 14.
That pressure told in the next over as Anton Devcich gave Fawad the charge and ran past a googly that spun beyond his flashing blade to hand Denesh Ramdin a straightforward stumping before Ben Cutting was trapped lbw on the sweep as Fawad ended with 3/13 from four near faultless overs.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who played for the West Indies for 21 years, has come on board for the Windies Ambassador Programme, and will lend his support for the upcoming ICC Women’s World T20 2018.
Chanderpaul, who started playing for the Windies at 19 and served the region in several capacities including captain for 14 Tests and 16 ODIs, will join with other selected Ambassadors. Chanderpaul will make a variety of appearances from September to November.
Chanderpaul, commenting on his role, said: “I want to thank Cricket West Indies for inviting me to participate in this fantastic tournament. It is another great opportunity to serve my country, the region and the sport that I love so much. Everyone knows I am a student of the game and what better way to be involved than to be an Ambassador for this prestigious event.
“I am also a huge fan of women’s cricket and I jumped at the opportunity. I have played cricket all over the world and I enjoyed every moment, especially meeting fans and entertaining the crowds.
“This tournament is for the fans of the West Indies and I want to urge everyone to come out and #WatchThis. It will be a great few weeks of brilliant performances by some of the best women players to ever play the game. I’m delighted I will be part of it.”
Tournament Director Jennifer Nero welcomed Chanderpaul to the team: “This is an incredible opportunity for our present and former players to interact with each other and with fans at all levels.
“Our main aim to support the women with filled stadiums across the region for the tournament and the reach of the Ambassadors, we hope, will help us achieve that,” he said
The Providence Stadium in Guyana will host matches for warm-up and preliminary rounds from 4 to 17 November.
The ICC Women’s WT20, the first time it is being held as a stand-alone event this year, is scheduled for 9 to 24 November and will be held at the Providence Ground in Guyana, the Daren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia and the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
It was another night of extraordinary Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) playoff drama at Providence Stadium as St Kitts & Nevis Patriots sensationally grabbed a semi-final spot with a two-wicket victory over Jamaica Tallawahs with just one ball remaining.
Remarkably, that was exactly the same outcome as Tuesday night when Guyana Amazon Warriors edged past Trinbago Knight Riders; but while that was a slow-burning, nerve-shredding, bowler-dominated thriller this was a record-breaking rollercoaster of a run-fest in which Glenn Phillips’ magnificent century for the Tallawahs would ultimately prove in vain.
Phillips’ 103 from 63 balls propelled the Tallawahs to a Hero CPL record score of 191/5 at Providence Stadium, a ground record that would stand for only two hours as Ben Cutting’s huge six over midwicket from the fifth ball of the final over saw the Patriots to an unlikely victory.
The Tallawahs appeared to have the game in the bag when Ish Sodhi removed both Rassie van der Dussen and Chris Gayle in the 10th over to leave the Patriots 62/3 with the required rate well beyond 12 an over.
But Anton Devcich and Fabian Allen had other ideas, smashing 51 from the next three overs to breathe new life into the run-chase. Allen smashed two sixes in his whirlwind 10-ball 23, and even after he became Sodhi’s third victim of the night the onslaught continued.
Guyana Amazon Warriors booked their place in the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) final after edging past Trinbago Knight Riders by two wickets on a thrillingly tense night in Providence.
Rain throughout much of the day resulted in difficult batting conditions throughout this Playoff clash, in stark contrast to a couple of nights ago when the Warriors blitzed the same opponents with a quick-fire run-chase in the final group-stage game.
But the Warriors’ heroes from that night, Shimron Hetmyer and Sherfane Rutherford, combined again to rescue Guyana’s chase of the Knight Riders’ 122/7 from the depths of 52/5 after 12 overs.
Having got the target down to 21 from 20 balls both men then fell in successive balls to leave the game back in the balance, and when Rayad Emrit edged Dwayne Bravo to Denesh Ramdin for just a single the momentum appeared to have lurched decisively the way of the Knight Riders once more with 18 runs still needed from 13 balls and just two wickets remaining.
Romario Shepherd had other ideas, though, launching his first ball for a huge six down the ground and adding another boundary in the next over to leave the Warriors needing just four runs from the final over.
Still this extraordinary game was not quite done. Just one run came from the first four balls of Dwayne Bravo’s final over to leave the equation standing at three runs needed from two balls.
Having seen eight overs of spin from Chris Green and Imran Tahir produce combined figures of 3/30 on a pitch offering prodigious turn, Knight Riders skipper Dwayne Bravo gambled on front-loading the run-chase with his own deadly trio of spinners.
