CPL 2020: Sunil Narine stars again as TKR top table, St Lucia Zouks get off the mark

If early signs are anything to go by, Trinbago Knight Riders are going to be a force to reckon with in Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020. TKR cruised to a 7-wicket win over Jamaica Tallawahs to top the points table after Day 3 action.

It was Sunil Narine again who shone with both the bat and the ball. After hitting a fifty in the opening encounter against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Narine was in full flow against Tallawahs, hitting 53 in just 38 balls.

Narine’s blistering knock as opener helped the Knight Riders gun down a 136-run target in just 18.1 overs.

Narine also bowled 4 overs and picked up the crucial wicket of Asif Ali. He gave away just 19 runs. Colin Munro also shone with an unbeaten 49 as Kieron Pollard’s men registered a convincing win.

Brief Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 136/3 (Narine 53, Munro 49*, DM Bravo 14; Mujeeb 1/13, Edwards 1/19, Lamichhane 1/30) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 135/8 (Phillips 58, Russell 25, Asif 22; Seales 2/21, Ali Khan 2/25, Fawad 1/18, Narine 1/19) by 7 wickets.

Daren Sammy’s St Lucia Zouks off the mark

Earlier in the day, St. Lucia Zouks got off the mark after a thumping win over champions Barbados Tridents in a rain curtailed match. Part-time spinners Mohammad Nabi, Roston Chase and Mark Deyal starred for the Zouks with the ball, keeping the Tridents in check to help the batsmen get a comfortable seven wicket victory in a truncated five-over chase.

Opting to bat first, the Tridents got off to a flyer as they got to 23 after just two overs. Left arm pacer Obed McCoy missed his length a few times early on, and Johnson Charles made the most of it getting two fours and a six. Charles continued the aggression with a four and a six off Scott Kuggeleijn’s first over but was sent packing by the Kiwi bowler the very next ball.

Kuggeleijn struck again in his second over, a slightly fortuitous dismissal coming off a full toss which his countryman Corey Anderson hit straight at short cover. Two quick wickets helped arrest the scoring rate, as the Zouks conceded just 15 runs in the three subsequent overs. Shai Hope tried to take on Mohammad Nabi to accelerate the scoring, but only managed to find Mark Deyal in the deep.

Captain Jason Holder walked into bat at number five, and signalled his intent almost immediately, targeting the short boundary on the leg side to pummel two sixes and a four. The Tridents skipper however couldn’t inflict further damage as a slowish delivery from Kesrick Williams managed to get the toe end of his bat and found the fielder in the deep.

Holder’s wicket triggered a mini collapse as Jonathan Carter and Kyle Mayers were dismissed off successive deliveries from Roston Chase. Seeing the track favouring turn, Zouks captain Daren Sammy brought on another part-time spinner Mark Deyal into the attack, and that proved to be an inspired bowling change as Raymon Reifer was out caught behind.

The part-timers provided a good stranglehold on the Tridents’ scoring rate, as only 27 runs were added to the scoreboard in the five overs post Holder’s wicket. The champions were 131/7 after 18.1 overs when rain disrupted play for the better part of two hours, resulting in the game being reduced to a five over chase for the Zouks.

Brief Scores: Barbados Tridents: 131/7, 18.1 overs (Jason Holder 27, Roston Chase 2/8) lost to St. Lucia Zouks: 50/3, 4.1 overs (Andre Fletcher 16, Rashid Khan 2/24) (DLS Method).