CPL 2020: Sunil Narine, Rashid Khan shine on opening day

While Trinbago Knight Riders beat Guyana Amazon Warriors by four wickets, Barbados Tridents edged out St. Kitts & Nevis Patriot by six runs.

Rashid Khan scored an unbeaten 26 and picked up two wickets as Barbados Tridents defeated St Kitts & Nevis Patriots by six runs.

Brilliant all-round performances from Sunil Narine and Rashid Khan gave their respective teams a winning start on the opening day of the Caribbean Premier League in Tarouba.

While Trinbago Knight Riders ended Guyana Amazon Warriors’ 11-match winning streak by beating the side by four wickets in a match reduced to 17 overs, Barbados Tridents edged out St. Kitts & Nevis Patriot by six runs at the Brian Lara Academy on Tuesday.

In the opening match, Narine’s 50 in 28 balls after taking two for 19 in his four overs were the key for Trinbago. However,it needed Bravo brothers, Darren (30) and Dwayne (six not out), to see the team through with two balls to spare against Guyana Amazon Warriors.

Shimron Hetmyer’s scored 63 not out off just 44 balls for the Warriors.

Kieron Pollard’s decision to bowl first in a match shortened by rain to 17 overs each paid off. Ali Khan had last year’s CPL top scorer, Brandon King, slicing a shot to point for a duck.

The Knight Riders’ spinners called the shots and it was only in the seventh over, that Ross Taylor (33) smashed the first six, of the tournament.

Taylor and Hetmeyer put on 50 for the third wicket, before Narine ended the stand dismissing Taylor. Young Hetmeyer and Nicholas Pooran, the two West Indies internationals, played out Narine smartly.

Amazon Warriors was 89 for three with five overs left and three big overs 13th (16 runs), 14th (12 runs) and 17th (15 runs) helped it set a target of 145.

The Amazon Warriors bowlers began tightly, pinning the Knight Riders’ openers Narine and Lendl Simmons to just 9 off the first 3 overs.

Kiwi Colin Munro (17) was looking dangerous with a four and a six off successive deliveries in the seventh over before Romario Shepherd sent him back with Brandon King taking a superb diving catch.

Even though Warriors kept a check on him, the big-hitter Narine, with a four and a six, helped his team to a useful 17 runs in the ninth over. Narine continued with his big hitting with two sixes in the 10th over and soon the Knight Riders was 81 for twi requiring, 64 off the last 48 balls for a win.

When Narine reached his 50 in 27 balls, he celebrated by taking the knee and raising a fist in honour of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Pollard and Bravo carried on, before the latter was dismissed by Naveen-ul-Haq in the final over, but the Knight Riders was close to getting home.

In the second game, Michael Santner (20 and 2/18) and Rashid Khan (26 and 2/27) carried the day for Barbados Tridents and helped it to a winning start over St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots in its title defence.

Reeling at 8 for three after the first 15 balls, Tridents’ skipper Jason Holder (38) and Kyle Mayers (37) helped repair the damage with a 61-run stand for the fourth before the loss of another three wickets in a span of 14 deliveries had the side struggling at 69 for six.

The depth in its line-up showed as Santner (20) and Afghanistan all-rounder Rashid Khan (26 not out) helped the tem cross the 150-mark and set a target of 154 for Patriots.

Patriot bowlers Sohail Tanvir and Sheldon Cottrell were impressive in the closing stages, giving away only seven runs in their combined fourth overs. But Rashid lashed out with late boundaries and pulled Tridents past 150.

The CPL, which is a closed door event this year, is the first major T20 league taking place amid the COVID-19 pandemic.