CPL 2021: Evin Lewis seals semi-final spot for Patriots; Guyana, Saint Lucia Kings also win

St Kitts & Nevis (Basseterre): Led by Evin Lewis’ scintillating 52-ball 102, the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots returned to winning ways with an eight-wicket victory over the Trinbago Knight Riders to seal a spot in the latter stages of the Caribbean Premier League. The Patriots bowled brilliantly and then backed that up with a dominant batting display that saw them knock off the victory target with 32 balls to spare here on Saturday night. It was Lewis who was the star of the show. The Knight Riders got off to a slow start in the face of some excellent bowling from the Patriots. They reached the end of their PowerPlay at 28/2 with both Lendl Simmons and Denesh Ramdin caught on the mid-wicket boundary. Ramdin could have gone an over earlier, but Ravi Bopara put down a simple chance. Thankfully for the Patriots, this did not prove too costly. A fifty-run stand between Darren Bravo and Colin Munro steadied the ship and brought the Knight Riders back into the contest. Munro would go on to top score with 47 but when Darren Bravo went for 22 the Knight Riders lost momentum once again.

Oh what a night! What a performance by Evin Lewis (102 not out) who earns the @Dream11 MVP for match 27. #CPL21 #TKRvSKNP #CricketPlayedLouder #Dream11 pic.twitter.com/haDHHCCGFS

— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 12, 2021

When Munro and Kieron Pollard went in successive balls bowled by Jon-Russ Jaggesar it looked as if the Knight Riders would set a sub-par total but some big hitting from Sunil Narine took his team to 159/7. 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 67/1 from their PowerPlay overs with Gayle’s wicket to fall for 35 from 18 balls. When Gayle went it was Lewis who took up the attack, passing his fifty from just 27 balls. While Narine was economical, returning figures of 0/10 from his four overs, the rest of the Knight Riders bowlers struggled for control in the face of the Lewis onslaught. Bopara and Lewis shared an 85-run stand, and Bopara contributed just seven runs as the Patriots opener smashed the ball to all parts. The win moved the Patriots back to the top of the table and guaranteed them a space in the semi-finals on Tuesday. Guyana Amazon Warriors put one foot in the CPL semi-finals following a 46-run victory over the Jamaica Tallawahs. The Amazon Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first and captain Nicholas Pooran led the way with a brutal 75 not out to set the Tallawahs 170 to win. In reply, the Tallawahs succumbed to a heavy defeat as Odean Smith and Gudakesh Motie combined to bowl the Amazon Warriors to victory. In another match, a superb bowling spell from David Wiese helped Saint Lucia Kings gain their fifth win of the season and end any chance of the Barbados Royals qualifying for the semi-finals in the process. The Royals won the toss and captain Jason Holder chose to field first, which looked like a good decision as the Kings lost two wickets in the Powerplay to the superb Mohammad Amir. However, Saint Lucia Kings captain Faf du Plessis once again produced a masterful performance, scoring 84 runs to take his side to a commanding 175/6. Despite a strong start in reply, the Royals were sent into disarray in the ninth over as Wiese took three wickets, with Johnson Charles, Shai Hope and Glenn Phillips getting dismissed within five balls. Despite a late fightback from Holder and Hayden Walsh, it was not enough and the side finished on 154/8.