The first day of the CPL 2021 saw Guyana Amazon Warriors beat Trinbago Knight Riders by 9 runs while St Kitts and Nevis Patriots overpowered Barbados Royals by 22 runs.
The CPL 2021 kick-started with Guyana Amazon Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders locking horns. The TKR skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and decided to field first. GAW had a decent start, with Chandrapaul Hemraj (13) and Odean Smith (24) scoring at a brisk rate to put 43/1 in the powerplay.
Opening batter Brandon King was stuck in his innings and played an awful knock off 9 off 17. Pakistan veterans Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez also struggled to get going, scoring 2 off 12 and 8 off 10, respectively.
Captain Nicholas Pooran also managed only 12 off 10. Shimron Hetmyer scored 54 (41) for the Warriors with four fours and two sixes to help GAW to reach a competitive total of 142/7. The spin duo of TKR was sublime on the day, returning identical figures of 2/17 in their quota of four overs.
Chasing 143, the Knight Riders got off to a brilliant start with 50/2 on the board at the end of the powerplay. The veteran leg-spinner Imran Tahir turned the match in Warriors’ favour by first dismissing Narine, who was looking good on 20 off 17 and then Darren Bravo (3) to reduce TKR to 62/4 in 9 overs. Tim Seifert, who struggled to score at a good rate, was the next one to go on 23 off 29.
The Knight Riders’ hopes were on the shoulders of Pollard but a peach of a delivery by Romario Shepherd sent him back on 2 off 7. Dinesh Ramdin tried his best to get the team closer to the target but holed out in the penultimate over on 28 off 25. Shepherd was the pick of the bowlers for Guyana with 3/15, while Tahir had 2/12 in his four. Odean Smith was named the Player of the match for his all-round display of 24 off 15 and 2/10.
In the evening fixture of the first day, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots took on Barbados Royals. Jason Holder won the toss and decided to field first. The decision seemed perfect as Mohammad Amir sent Evin Lewis (6) back early, and Oshane Thomas ran through the Patriots’ top order with three scalps to reduce them to 39/4 in 7.1 overs.
Skipper Dwayne Bravo joined Sherfane Rutherford in the middle with the huge task of rebuilding the innings. The duo did just that at a terrific rate and stitched a 115-run partnership for the fifth wicket in just 11.3 overs. Rutherford’s knock of 53 off 43, including two fours and four sixes, came to an end in the penultimate over. Fabian Allen came in and smashed 19 off 7 to take SKNP to 175/5 in 20 overs. Bravo remained unbeaten on 47 off 35, which included one four and four sixes.
In response, the Royals smashed 27 in 2.2 overs but lost both the openers Johnson Charles (12) and Glenn Phillips (5). Holder (10) and Kyle Mayers (9) also couldn’t do much as BR were reduced to 67/4 in 10.4 overs.
Shai Hope (44 off 38) and Azam Khan (28 off 16) tried to put up a fight but the target was out of reach even for the destructive Pakistani batter. Sheldon Cottrell and Dominic Drakes finished with two wickets each as SKNP restricted BR to 154/7. Rutherford was named the Player of the match for his brilliant half-century.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots sit at the top of the table while Guyana Amazon Warriors at second with two points each after the first day of the tournament. Trinbago Knight Riders, who went undefeated last season, received a shock in the first game, making the tournament interesting.
