So, finally, the world’s largest cricket party, CPL 2020 was off to a roaring start!
Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and Barbados Tridents registered wins in their opening matches of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Tuesday.
TKR defeated Guyana Amazon Warriors by four wickets which was no surprise, honestly!
But what WAS surprising was the EASE with which TKR won.
Due to a bout of rain, the match was reduced to 17 overs.
Guyana won the toss and decided to bat first.
They managed to get 144/5 in 17 overs. Shimron Hetmyer was in good form with an unbeaten 63 runs but frankly, it never looked enough.
Sunil Narine is probably the most valuable T20 player in the world for the sheer number of ways he can contribute, be it batting, bowling, fielding or just keeping the side relaxed through his calm demeanour.
Once again, he did the job for TKR by picking up 2 wickets for 19 runs which is amazing, for the T20 format.
A few minutes later, Narine was back in the field in his batting gear!
The Sunil Narine show continued remorselessly as he blasted 50 runs in 28 balls.
TKR won comfortably with 2 balls to spare, by 4 wickets. No prizes for guessing the man of the match – Sunil Narine!
In the other match, Barbados Tridents edged out St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by six runs at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium.
Batting first, the Tridents made 153/9 in 20 overs.
The innings got a much needed boost towards the end, thanks to skipper Jason Holder, who made 38 runs and Rashid Khan’s quick-fire 26.
Batting was always going to be a weakness St Kitts and this was proven right.
Joshua Da Silva made 41 runs and Ben Dunk got 34 runs, but the lack of a substantial partnership hurt them and they fell six runs short.
For the Tridents, Mitchell Santner and Rashid Khan got 2 wickets each.
Rayad Emrit bowled a brilliant spell for St. Kitts with 2-16 but sadly, his batsmen let him down.
Brief Scores
Trinbago Knight Riders 147/6 (Sunil Narine 50, Darren Dravo 30, Naveen-ul-Haq 2-21) defeat Guyana Amazon Warriors 144/5 (Shimron Hetmyer 63*, Ross Taylor 33, Sunil Narine 2-19) by four wickets.
Barbados Tridents 153/9 (Jason Holder 38, Kyle Mayers 37, Rayad Emrit 2-16) defeat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 147/5 (Joshua Da Silva 41, Ben Dunk 34, Mitchell Santner 2-18) by six runs
Cover image credit: CPL T20
