Caribbean Premier League 2020

Trinbago Knight Riders defeated St Lucia Zouks by 8 wickets to win the 2020 edition of the Caribbean Premier League. This was a season to remember for the Keiron Pollard led side as they did not lose even a single match this season. 

Pollard led from the front as he picked up 4 wickets to restrict St Lucia Zouks to a score of 154. Andre Fletcher top-scored for the Zouks with 39 runs with Fawad Ahmed also picking up 2 wickets for TKR. The chase was made easy by Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo as they hit an unbeaten 138-run partnership to take the Knight Riders to an eight-wicket win in the final. Simmons top-scored with 84 runs with Bravo hitting 58.

TKR became the first team in the history of CPL to win all matches in the tournament. The final victory was achieved without one of their premier players Sunil Narine being dropped from the XI.

The turning point certainly was the 17th over bowled by inexperienced Afghan left-arm wrist spinner Zahir Khan, which went for 23 runs. From 41 required off 24 balls, it came down to run a ball as Simmons hit a six and Bravo hit a couple of biggies. Down to run-a-ball, Scott Kuggeleijn, Zouks’ most effective fast bowler lost his length against a rampaging Simmons, who hit a six and a four to effectively finish the contest as 16 came from the over.

Caribbean Premier League 2018

New Zealand’s Colin Munro smashed an unbeaten 39-ball 68 as defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders thrashed Guyana Amazon Warriors by eight wickets to lift Caribbean Premier League 2018 title for the third time.

Opting to field, Knight Riders restricted Guyana Amazon Warriors to 147 for 9, with Khary Pierre claiming 3 for 29 and Captain Dwayne Bravo picking up two wickets. In reply, Knight Riders chased down the target in just 17.3 overs, thanks to brilliant batting performances from Brendon McCullum (39) and Munro (68).

For Guyana Amazon Warriors, Luke Ronchi scored 44 off 35 balls. Chasing 148 to win, Ramdin played the anchor even as McCullum pulled out the big shots. The two added 52 for the first wicket before McCullum skied Chris Green for Delport to take the catch in the seventh over - the former New Zealand captain hit 39 in 24 balls.

Pierre was adjudged Player of the Match for his brilliant bowling figures of 3/29. Munro was earlier named in the CPL tournament team, alongside Phillips who had a big few weeks for Jamaica Tallawahs. Phillips scored 457 runs from 11 innings at a strike rate of 147 to push a strong case for one of the two available spots for the Black Caps T20 squad to face Pakistan.

Caribbean Premier League 2017

Kevin Cooper late assault saw the Trinbago Knight Riders beat the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots by three wickets in a thrilling final of the 2017 Caribbean Premier League. Batting first, the Patriots lost big hitters Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis to slump to 37/3 before Carlos Brathwaite’s 30 pushed the score to a gettable 135/6.

Sheldon Cottrell’s double strike in his opening over put the Knight Riders on the backfoot immediately before Mohammed Hafeez removed Colin Munro and Darren Bravo off successive overs. The Knight Riders run-chase was in tatters at 90/7, but Denesh Ramdin held the innings together with 26 off 31 balls and Cooper hit a flurry of boundaries late to clinch victory in front of a delirious partisan crowd at Tarouba.

The victory was sweet revenge for the Knight Riders, who had won eight of their 10 preliminary matches before a humiliating loss to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the first play-off on Tuesday. The Patriots, despite the loss, could hold their heads up high as their appearance in the 2017 finals comes after a 2016 season when they finished last with only two wins in 10 matches. Earlier, Dwayne Bravo’s decision to insert the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots paid immediate dividends when Javon Scantlebury claimed the wicket of Gayle (1) off the seventh ball of the innings. The Barbadian would dismiss Hafeez (5) cheaply and Sunil Narine would dispose of the dangerous Lewis (16) to reduce the Patriots to 37/3 in the 8th over.

Narine was at his miserly best conceding only eight runs, with 18 scoreless deliveries in four overs. Brandon King (19) and Devon Thomas had brisk but brief stays at the crease before Jonathan Carter (21) and Carlos Brathwaite combined for an important 6th wicket partnership of 49. Brathwaite hit 30 off 25 balls and added a further 21 with Mohammed Nabi, who blazed 18 off only five balls. The Patriots135/6 looked respectable on a slow surface at Tarouba. The visitors were back in the game immediately with a double strike by Sheldon Cottrell. The big Jamaican had Narine (3) caught and bowled and then disturbed Dwaye Bravo’s stumps second ball he faced for a duck.

At 90/7, Kevon Cooper joined Denesh Ramdin and the pair kept the scoreboard ticking over until the last ball of the 18th over when Cooper launched a massive six over deep cover. With 22 needed off the last two overs, Cooper hit another maximum off a Ben Hilfehaus no ball, struck the free hit for a boundary and pulled the penultimate delivery over midwicket for another four. Ramdin, who ended on 26 off 31 balls, knocked off the winning run off the last ball of the 19thover to complete a three-wicket victory with an over to spare. Cooper was 29 not out off 14 balls to celebrate his second victory in the Caribbean Premier League. He was also victorious in 2015 when the team won as the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel.