St. Kitts & Nevis, Sep 12 (IANS): On a day which saw three matches, St. Kitts & Nevis secured their semifinal spot, while Guyana came closer and Barbados were put off running in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) here on Sunday.
An unbeaten century by Evin Lewis saw St Kitts & Nevis Patriots get back to winning form and outplay Trinbago Knight Riders by eight wickets with 32 balls to spare.
This win put Patriots back to the top of the table and they are assured of a semifinal battle on September 14. The Knight Riders got off to a slow start in the face of some excellent bowling from the Patriots, before a 50-run stand between Darren Bravo and Colin Munro helped bring some order. Munro top-scored with 47 but when Darren Bravo went for 22 the Knight Riders lost their momentum again.
Munro and Kieron Pollard went off successive balls bowled from Jon-Russ Jaggesar and the Knight Riders aided by some big hitting from Sunil Narine reached 159 for 7.
The Patriots innings got off to a flying start thanks to Evin Lewis and Chris Gayle who was promoted to open as a result of an injury to Devon Thomas. They reached 67 for 1 from their PowerPlay overs before Gayle (35 in 18 balls) fell. Lewis smashed his way to 102 from just 52 balls.
Lewis took over, passing 50 from just 27 balls. Except for Narine the other Knight Riders bowlers struggled. Lewis also had an 85-run stand with Bopara.
Meanwhile, Guyana Amazon Warriors came closer to a semifinal spot with a 46-run victory over the Jamaica Tallawahs. Guyana, batting first, scored 46 runs in the PowerPlay but lost Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj. Despite Shimron Hetmyer then running himself out, Nicholas Pooran and Shoaib Malik put together 54 runs from 33 balls to place Guyana in a strong position with six overs to go. Pooran's aggressive 75 not out gave Guyana a very good 169 for 6.
The Tallawahs kept pace early on but then slipped when Odean Smith came into the attack. He took two wickets in two balls and swung the balance in Guyana's favour. He also snared Andre Russell in a wicket maiden. Alongside Smith, Gudakesh Motie took three wickets and Tallawahs had no chance.
The Tallawahs will now have to win the return game to make the semifinals.
A superb bowling spell from David Wiese (5 for 25) helped Saint Lucia Kings gain their fifth win of the 2021 CPL. It also ended any chances of the Barbados Royals qualifying for the semifinals.
The Royals won the toss and captain Jason Holder chose to field first. St Lucia helped by skipper Faf du Plessis (84) who took his side to 175 for 6.
Despite a strong start in reply, Barbados were in disarray as Wiese took three wickets in the ninth over. Johnson Charles, Shai Hope and Glenn Phillips fell in a space of five balls. Despite a late fightback from Holder and Hayden Walsh, it was not enough and the side finished on 154/8.
Brief scores:
Trinbago Knight Riders 159/7 (Munro 47, Narine 32*; Jaggesar 3/32, Drakes 3/32) lost to St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 160/2 (Lewis 102*, Gayle 35; Pollard 1/20, Khan 1/54) by eight wickets.
Guyana Amazon Warriors 169/6 (Pooran 75*, Hetmyer 23; Russell 2/35, Green 1/17) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 123 all out (Mckenzie 28, Brooks 21; Smith 3/21, Motie 3/25) by 46 runs.
Saint Lucia Kings 175/6 (du Plessis 84, David 34; Amir 2/31, Young 1/24) beat Barbados Royals 155/8 (Holder 34, Hope 31; Wiese 5/25, Joseph 1/32) by 14 runs (DLS method).