CPL 2024 Match 3 Review - Trinbago Knight Riders edges out Patriots

In the third Caribbean Premier League (CPL) game, Trinbago Knight Riders defeated St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots by 44 runs thanks to a high-scoring run-fest at Warner Park. After winning the toss, Patriots captain Andre Fletcher put the Knight Riders in position for what proved to be a solid batting wicket. The Knight Riders got off to a quick start thanks to three fours and four sixes from Sunil Narine, and they never looked back.

All evening long, the boundary was hit and cleared, and Nicholas Pooran emerged victorious as Player of the Match after a brilliant innings of 97 off 43 balls, well short of a century. In a brutal performance of stroke play, Keacy Carty scored 73 off just 35 balls, inflicting more damage on the Patriots. The two batsmen left the opposition perplexed as boundaries were hammered all around the relatively short Basseterre ground.  

Trinbago Knight Riders gets a step ahead at CPL 2024:

As expected, Carty struck the last ball of the innings for six runs, helping the Knight Riders to a massive 250/4 total. In what ended up being the highest-scoring game in the history of the CPL between the two teams, the Patriots scored 206/8, surpassing the two-hundred run mark themselves. However, Andre Fletcher's team never really appeared to be able to reach the target. 

The tournament's all-time leading wicket-taker and five-time champion, Dwayne Bravo, 41, declared on Instagram a few hours before play started that this year's CPL would be his last. He wrote, "It's been a great journey. I'm excited to compete in my last professional event in front of my Caribbean fans because this will be my last season. For me, TKR represents the beginning and the finish line for my team."

Bravo was one of just two Knight Riders bowlers to bowl at an economy rate of fewer than 10 runs per over, along with Narine, despite going wicketless in his three overs. In his four overs, Narine amassed 2/24 while only hitting three boundaries. Pooran appeared to have achieved three figures in style earlier. In the eighteenth over, Anrich Nortje delivered a full and wide delivery that the batsman got into with gusto. Unfortunately, Drakes caught the sliced shot on the boundary at a deep point, and the batter was visibly disappointed. 

Even so, Pooran could take solace in the fact that his innings helped his team win handily, later stating, "At the end of the day, I want to win matches and tournaments. In order to achieve my goal of winning the CPL, I must continue to perform my job." The Knight Riders recorded their first victory of the 2024 campaign, demonstrating that they had completed their task.

 Keep a watch at this space for more CPL 2024 updates.