The Trinbago Knight Riders Women edged to victory by the barest of margins beating the Barbados Royals Women by one run in a nail-biting first game of the inaugural Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL).
Having won the toss and elected to bat, the Knight Riders got off to a flyer, but lost regular wickets meaning they finished 114/7 thanks to a late flurry from Hayley Jensen and a well-fought 30 from Lee-Ann Kirby at the top.
Shakera Selman and Hayley Matthews were the pick of the Royals’ bowlers taking two apiece and Matthews claimed bragging rights by dismissing her counterpart, Deandra Dottin.
new look Jamaica Tallawahs got their 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign off to a winning start with a 47-run victory over the defending champions, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.
The Patriots won the toss and opted to field first but the decision backfired as a sparkling 89 off 57 balls from Brandon King led the way for the Tallawahs who set an imposing 183/2 from their 20 overs.
KIERON POLLARD remains captain of Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) for the tenth edition of the Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament while new addition, West Indies T20 skipper Nicholas Pooran, will serve in other leadership roles within the squad.
Pollard wants Pooran to take a load off captaincy duties after a hectic, series-filled campaign as WI white-ball skipper over the past four months.
Pooran, who played with Guyana Amazon Warriors for the past three years, was one of three regional additions to the TKR lineup for the 2022 CPL, alongside Andre Russell (Jamaica Tallawahs) and debutant Shaaron Lewis.
Pooran leads the West Indies team into ICC T20 World Cup qualification in October. Pollard believes his new TKR teammate, in addition to a few other experienced players in the team, must still serve in other critical leadership roles.
“This is the CPL. We have put together a squad where we have a lot of senior players and a lot of leaders within themselves. Pooran is the WI incumbent. He will always have a leadership role in whatever capacity."
Guyana Amazon Warriors have made it to the knockouts of all nine editions of the CPL so far but have never won the title. This season, they have a chance to break that jinx and clinch their first trophy, in front of their home crowd. The prospect of Guyana hosting the CPL final for the first time has raised the expectations of the fans. The tournament being played just one month out from the next T20 World Cup has raised the jeopardy for the players.
But Shimron Hetmyer, Amazon Warriors’ new captain, is letting none of that cloud his mind.
“I actually see it as a challenge and I relish challenges,” Hetmyer said during a virtual media interaction. “Want to really perform and do the best for my team because I know once I do half of my best or even my best, we will get there to a decent score more times than not. So, it’s really for me to focus on how I go about doing that and how I go about setting up an innings and just being out in the crease for as long as possible and not thinking too far ahead to the World Cup."
ST KITTS and Nevis will launch the defence of their maiden Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title when they clash with Jamaica Tallawahs in the opening game of this year’s tournament here today.
The 7 p.m. contest at Warner Park will be preceded by the opening match of the women’s tournament at 3 p.m., when Trinbago Knight Riders Women take on Barbados Royals Women – the recent winners of the inaugural 6ixty here last weekend.
After several years of coming up short, Patriots finally put their trophy-less record behind them when they stunned St Lucia Kings in a thrilling final here last year. And veteran all-rounder and captain Dwayne Bravo said there was now a growing belief among the squad that Patriots could continue to challenge for honours.
“I am very excited. Last season, I made a decision to leave TKR and challenge myself differently and in a different way to keep myself motivated for the game and to try and help others develop their game and their cricket,” Bravo told the media yesterday.
