TWO FINALS, two defeats.
The Trinbago Knight Riders competed in the men’s and women’s finals of the historic first edition of the SKYEXCH 6IXTY but lost both yesterday at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts. The ten-over cricket tournament was the precursor to the Caribbean Premier League, which starts on Wednesday.
The St Kitts and Nevis Patriots beat the TKR men by three wickets, leaving iconic West Indies opener Chris “The Universe Boss” Gayle holding the Champions Trophy, which bears his name.
“Boss Universe will lift the Universe Boss trophy,” Gayle boasted in the end, after hitting the winning runs when he turned a Ravi Rampaul full to the boundary with just two balls left in the match as the Patriots reached their target. from 85 to win by three wickets.
Yesterday morning, Knight Riders men captained by “mystery spinner” Sunil Narine, completed a three-wicket win over Barbados Royals to advance to the final. Meanwhile, TKR Women went down by 15 runs to Barbados Patriots in their final.
In the championship match, the TKR men scored a paltry 84 when they batted first against a Patriots team backed by a large home crowd.
TKR were in early trouble, with both openers going cheap. Three balls into the match, TKR skipper Sunil Narine was out not out, caught by Patriots skipper Evin Lewis off the bowling of South African Duan Jansen.
Tion Webster went behind (two for six) as he scored just five runs. And after reaching the 22, leading man Andre Russell’s lethargic run saw him caught on the ground by a throw from Patriots skipper Evin Lewis. It was the second time for the day that Russell had run out.
Tim Seifert consolidated the innings with a strong 37 but Terrance Hinds, (eight), Sri Lankan all-rounder Seekkuge Prasanna (nil) and Akeal Hosein (one) all went cheap. Dominic Drakes (two for 17) was the best of the Patriots bowlers.
Responding, the Patriots had 53 runs on the board inside the opening five overs before Lewis was bowled by Russell for 32. There was little wobble after that. Sherfane Rutherford was caught on the boundary off Russell’s bowling and Dewald Brevis went for a duck off Narine. Suddenly the Patriots were 58 for three. It could have been worse for the Patriots had Gayle (15) not been removed by Jayden Seales and Anderson Phillip in the same over. But the big man survived and along with Andre Fletcher (26), was there at the end to claim another trophy for the defending CPL T20 champions Patriots.
Meanwhile, the women’s final saw the Barbados Royals defend a paltry 65 runs – the lowest total defended in the entire competition. Chasing a moderate total, the women Knight Riders were dismissed for just 50.
After winning the toss, TKR captain Deandra Dottin felt the wicket closing and took the opportunity to put the Patriots under pressure by letting them punt first. Dottin also commented that restricting Barbados to scoring 80 or below would be satisfactory.
The TKR captain got everything he had hoped for. Royals found runs hard to come by despite 42 coming before captain Hayley Matthews went for 15. Aaliyah Alleyne (23) and Chinelle Henry (15) were both also among the runs but Royals lost wickets regularly and fell to 65 all. in 9.2 overs. Anisa Mohammed and South African Sune Luus had identical bowling figures of two for 11, while Dottin and Sheneta Grimmond took a wicket each.
Responding, TKR were also under early pressure at 13 for two, with strong batsmen Lee-Ann Kirby (four) and Dottin (seven) missing out.
It got worse for TKR when Natasha McLean was caught on the boundary by Alleyne off the bowling of Afy Fletcher to restrict the Knight Riders to 21 for three.
After the consolidation, Knight Riders reached 48 before Shakera Selman took three wickets in her over. Selman accounted for Sune Luus, Hayley Jensen and Kycia Knight, the last gate to fall.
“It’s definitely a heartwarming feeling. Definitely came out here to represent well for Barbados and represent well for the Royals and I think the girls did an outstanding job throughout the tournament,” captain and player of the series Hayley Matthews said in a televised interview after the match.
“We had very good performances from all members of the team. Everyone has been really supportive and it’s really good to see the kind of shows we’ve been able to put on because of that.”
A disappointed Dottin said: “It wasn’t the result we wanted today but I’m very proud of my team. We’ve come a long way, we’ve played some good cricket in the last half and I’m very proud.”
Summary results:
Women’s final
BARBADOS ROYALS 65, 9.2 overs (Aaliyah Alleyne 23; Anisa Mohammed 2/11, Sune Luus 2/11)
vs TKR 50, nine overs (Shakera Selman 3/10, Qiana Joseph 2/5)
—ROYALS won by 15 runs.
Half shirt for men
BARBADOS ROYALS 101-5, ten overs (Rahkeem Cornwall 36, Corbin Bosch 21; Terrance Hinds 3/13)
vs TKR 104-3, 8.4 overs (Sunil Narine 35, Tion Webster 27)
—TKR won by three wickets.
TALLAWAHS 122-4, ten overs (Fabian Allen 82 not out)
vs PATRIOTS 123-3, 9.3 overs (Andre Fletcher 60 not out; Nicholson Gordon 2/35)
-The Patriots won by three wickets.
Men’s final
TKR 84, 9.3 overs (Tim Seifert 37 not out, Andre Russell 22; Dominic Drakes 2/17)
vs PATRIOTS 85-3, 9.4 overs (Evin Lewis 32, Andre Fletcher 27 not out; Andre Russell 2/11)
—The PATRIOTS won by three wickets.
