St Kitts and Nevis Patriots have won the Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament for the first time.
Chasing 160 for victory against the St Lucia Kings and needing one run from the final ball to cop the title, Dominic Drakes (48 not out) kept his nerve and hit the winning run in a last-ball thriller.
Kings’ pacer Kesrick Williams did well to restrict Drakes and Naseem Shah in the final over but the 23-year-old Bajan batted brilliantly to salvage a nail-biting three-wicket win.
Batting first, the Kings were led to 159/7 with opener Rahkeem Cornwall and all-rounder Roston Chase top-scoring with 43 runs each. A late cameo from Keemo Paul (39 runs from 21 balls) also bolstered the Kings’ tally in final overs.
[caption id="attachment_913264" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Rahkeem Cornwall (R) of Saint Lucia Kings is bowled by Fabian Allen as Joshua da Silva (L) of Saint Kitts & Nevis Patriots watches during the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League final at Warner Park Sporting Complex on Wednesday, in Basseterre, St Kitts. - Photo courtesy CPL T20[/caption]
Skipper Andre Fletcher (11) and Mark Deyal (1) were unable to get going with the bat today.
Pakistani pacer Naseem Shah (2/26) was the pick of the Patriots’ bowlers while spinner Fawad Ahmed (2/32) also bagged a pair.
In response, the Patriots had a terrible start losing openers Chris Gayle for a duck and Evin Lewis for just four runs (26/2).
But a stern 45-run partnership from Joshua Da Silva (37) and Sherfane Rutherford (25) saw them claw back into the title race. After Silva was dismissed (71/3), the Patriots stumbled a bit as Rutherford departed four runs later followed by their skipper Dwayne Bravo (eight).
Fabian Allen (20) and Drakes then teamed up to build a much-needed 44-run partnership which brought life to the Patriots innings in the final overs.
Drakes hit three sixes and three fours and played a brave knock to lead the St Kitts and Nevis franchise to their first CPLT20 title.
For the Kings, Riaz (2/36) topped the bowling.
The post St Kitts and Nevis Patriots win first Hero CPL T20 title appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.
