Evin Lewis

Man-of-the-Match Lewis scored 103 and shared in a record 192-run first-wicket partnership with Shai Hope, who made 84, as the West Indies took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. It was the best-ever first-wicket stand at the stadium.

Chasing a challenging total of 274, after Sri Lanka made 273 for 8 in their 50 overs, Lewis and Hope kept the Sri Lankan bowling attack at bay for 37.2 overs that seemed destined to take the home side to another comfortable victory. However, they almost threw it away.

Lewis’ 103 came off 121 balls and hit eight fours and four sixes before getting out to stumped to the bowling of Lakshan Sandakan.

His dismissal seemed to lift the Sri Lankans’ spirits and they responded by tightening up on the West Indies, who managed to squeeze two runs from the next nine balls. The pressure continued to build and it yielded the desired results. At 194 for one, Hope got out caught at deep cover trying to push the scoring rate.

As a measure of how much Sri Lanka had slowed the scoring rate, the first 50 for the West Indies came up in just 54 balls, the second in 53 while the third 50 came up in 55 balls. The fourth 50 for the West Indies was made from 81 balls.

In this phase of the game, the West Indies lost the wickets of Darren Bravo for 10 and Kieron Pollard and Fabian Allen 15 each over the next 57 balls from which they managed 55 runs as they tried to rein in the escalating run-rate that had ballooned to 10 runs an over.

With Jason Holder at the other end, it was left to Nicholas Pooran to play hero and swing the match back in favour of the West Indies.

Allen had hit a six off Nuwan Pradeep to start the 48^th over. He was dismissed next ball holing out to deep midwicket. However, the batsmen crossed leaving Pooran to face the next four balls from which the West Indies took 11 runs, 10 coming from Pooran’s bat via two fours and running two.

The little Trinidadian would finish the job in the final over off the same bowler with the West Indies needing nine from six balls.

After missing the first ball that was bowled wide of the off-stump, Pooran hit consecutive fours before clipping off his legs for the winning single. He would finish unbeaten on 35 while Holder, who faced four balls and was two not out.

Pradeep finished with 2-66 off 9.4 overs. Thisara Perera claimed the wickets of Hope and Bravo to return 2-45 from seven while Lakshan Sandakan finished with 1-36.

Earlier, Sri Lanka posted what turned out to be a competitive score, the foundation of which was laid by Danushka Gunathilaka, who scored a run-a-ball 96 that rescued Sri Lanka from 50 for 3 after Alzarri Joseph had removed Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka for one and 10, respectively within the first seven overs.

Gunathilaka, who was controversially given out for obstructing the field in the opening match on Wednesday, and Dinesh Chandimal put on 100 for the fourth wicket. He looked set for a hundred when Jason Mohammed bowled him with one that kept low to claim the first of his three wickets.

In fact, Mohammed claimed the next two wickets to fall - Ashan Bandara for 18 and then Chandimal for 71 - as Sri Lanka struggled to force the rate of scoring and seemed likely to score a little more than the 232 they scored in their eight-wicket loss on Wednesday.

However, a blazing cameo of 47 from 31 balls from Hasaranga de Silva propelled Sri Lanka well past the 250-run mark and with a little help from Perera, who made 19 before he was last man out run out for 19.

Mohammed had his career-best figures of 3-48 while Joseph took 2-42. There was a wicket each for Jason Holder and Akeal Hosein.

The final match of the series is scheduled for the same venue on Sunday.

The Patriots won the toss and chose to field first. Despite a bright start from the Amazon Warrior’s openers, wickets tumbled in the middle overs before a late burst from Shimron Hetmyer took his side to a substantial 178/9. 

In their chase, the Patriots once again opted to open with Chris Gayle, and he laid the platform for a successful chase, lashing the ball into the stands on numerous occasions before Evin Lewis then took over to guide his side to a crushing victory. 

The Warriors consolidated after losing Brandon King in the fourth over of their innings, with Chandrapaul Hemraj and Shoaib Malik patiently building. However, three wickets in three successive overs, including that of captain Nicholas Pooran, saw the side collapse, reaching 131-8 at one point. Spinners Jon-Russ Jaggesar and Fawad Ahmed were exceptional for the Patriots during this period. It was left to Shimron Hetmyer to salvage the innings and he did so in spectacular style, scoring 45 runs from 20 balls, including a remarkable 25 runs from the last over of the innings. 

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in turn reached their highest powerplay score of this year’s Hero CPL, Gayle, and Lewis bringing up 68-0 after the first six overs. Gayle was in destructive form, scoring 42 from 27 balls, and after he fell to youngster Kevin Sinclair, it was Lewis who took responsibility to lead the chase. Supported by captain DJ Bravo, who promoted himself to number three, Lewis blasted 77* off just 39 balls as the Patriots won with thirteen balls to spare. 

With this win, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots will now go on to meet the Saint Lucia Kings in Wednesday’s Hero CPL final, with one side set to win their maiden title. 

Delhi won the toss and put the Gladiators to bat and they were in immediate trouble at 34 for 3 after three overs. However, Pollard came to the rescue smashing 47 from just 18 balls. The Gladiators captain smashed four fours and four sixes that propelled his side to 118 for 7 even as wickets fell at the other end.

Fidel Edwards returned figures of 1 for 34 from his two overs. Dwayne Bravo was slightly more expensive with 1 for 34 from his two. However, the chief destroyers were Ali Khan who took 2 for 4 including Pollard’s wicket and Amad Butt, who returned 2 for 20 from the 10 balls he bowled.

Chasing 119 proved to be child’s play for the Bulls.

Lewis, who smashed 55 from 16 balls against the Maratha Arabians on Saturday, picked up from where he left off, racing to 35 from just 14 balls in a first-wicket stand of 90 with Rahmanullah Gurbaz, who bludgeoned the bowling for 47 runs from 20 balls.

Imran Tahir took the wickets of both openers within nine balls as Delhi slumped to 98 for 2, two balls into the seventh over. However, Rutherford ensured there would be no further stumbles smashing two fours and two sixes in his 13-ball knock that sealed victory for Delhi with 11 balls to spare.

Chasing a relatively modest target of 254, Trinidad started out well despite losing the wicket of Kjorn Ottley for four in the second over of the innings. His dismissal brought Mohammed, who provided a well-needed backbone to the Trinidad line up. He and Lewis put on 117 for the second wicket in 19 overs.

When Lewis got out to Roston Chase for 61, Mohammed and Denesh Ramdin added 29 over the next eight overs as the bowling tightened.

Then came the slide that saw Trinidad fall away from 150 for 2 to 158 for 5 as Ramdin fell for 10 and Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran went without scoring.

However, Mohammed found a useful partner in Sunil Narine who scored 18 in a partnership worth 49.

Akeal Hosein helped Mohammed add another 45 before the latter fell for 122 that included 10 fours and two sixes and brought Trinidad to within sight of victory at 252 for 7. Hosein was unbeaten at the end on 20 as Trinidad managed to get to 256 without further loss.

Chase, who also got the wickets of Pooran and Ramdin finished 3-21 from his 10 overs and Dominic Drake 2-47.

Earlier, half-centuries from Justin Greaves, Johnathan Carter and Roston Chase were undermined by a five-wicket haul from Kieron Pollard as Barbados Pride scored 253 for 9 from their 50 overs.

Greaves hit six fours and a six in his score of 62 and featured in an opening stand of 44 with Zachary McCaskie (16) and 42 with Shamarh Brooks who made 20.

However, it was Carter and Chase, who came together at 106 for 3, who managed to push the score along producing a fourth-wicket stand of 102 before Carter got out to Akeal Hosein for 56.

Red Force captain Kieron Pollard then went to work taking the next five wickets including that of Chase for 56, as the Pride slumped from 208 for 4 to 253 for 9.

Chase and Holder had managed to put together 33 runs between them before the latter was dismissed for 18 with the score at 241 in the 48^th over.

Pollard finished with 5 for 17 from three overs while Akeal Hosein took 2-44.

The 29-year-old Trinidadian, an instinctively attacking batsman, has been more pragmatic in his approach during the ongoing three-match series against Sri Lanka which has resulted in scores of 65, 103 and 13 at an average of 60.3. However, notwithstanding batting into the 38^th over on Friday, Lewis revealed after the West Indies won by five-wickets, that he plans to bat even deeper into each innings.

Against that background, he was asked whether this more mature approach to opening the batting, means he would consider opening for the West Indies in Test cricket, especially in light of the fact that neither of the current openers – John Campbell or newly appointed Captain Kraigg Brathwaite – have been particularly convincing.

“I’ve gotten that question from many people. It’s actually something that I have thought about. The only problem is I haven’t played four-day cricket in a while now and I am not sure four-day cricket is going to be played this year,” he said revealing that even members of his family have been encouraging him to give it a go.

“It’s something that I have given good thought. At the end of the day Test cricket is the ultimate, everyone wants to play Test cricket. Hopefully, when the next four-day season arrives I can play and try and execute and try and get some good scores and hopefully be included. We will see what goes.”

The ‘new’ approach to his batting Lewis said began against Ireland in January 2020 when he had scores of 99 not out, 7 and 102 and planned to continue with this approach in the Sri Lanka series.

“I said this series I am going to give myself a fair chance. At the same time, you want to get off to a good start in the Power Play. I think I played that same way against Ireland last year. It’s something I have been working on in 50-over cricket. I want to try and pace my innings knowing I can otherwise make up in the middle overs and at the end, so it’s a work in progress.”

Lewis has scored 1778 runs in ODI cricket. He has four centuries and nine 50s and averages 37.82

The Patriots won the toss and opted to field first, but the decision backfired, as the Amazon Warriors made light of losing wickets at regular intervals, to post an exceptional 197 for 7. 

In reply, the Patriots struggled to get close to the Warriors total, being bundled over for 132 in 16.5 overs.

Evin Lewis played a quick-fire captain’s knock, but once he fell, no one else in the Patriots order was able to have a similar effect on the game.

The Amazon Warriors innings suffered an early blow when Sheldon Cottrell removed Chandrapaul Hemraj in the first over for a duck.

Though the Patriots lost two further wickets in the PowerPlay –Saim Ayub falling to Dominic Drakes and Azam Khan to Oshane Thomas –they kept the run-rate brisk, and were well positioned at 59 for 3, at the end of the initial six overs.

Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer maintained and, by extension, built on that momentum taking the score to 101 for 3 at the halfway stage of the innings. Hope led the way, as he raced to a half-century from a mere 26 balls.

However, the partnership was eventually broken by wrist spinner Izharulhaq Naveed, who bowled the destructive Hope for 54. That wicket was quickly followed up by the dismissal of Hetmyer for 26, as the left-hander holed out to the fielder on the deep point boundary.

Those wickets briefly took the momentum out of the innings, before Keemo Paul and Romario Shepherd not only steadied the ship, but added quick runs at the backend to help the Warriors to their imposing target.

The Patriots reply never really got going as scoreboard pressure told. 

Andre Fletcher and Joshua Da Silva fell inside the PowerPlay to leave the Patriots 37 for 2 at the end of six overs.

Lewis played a fine counter-attacking innings of 48 from 24 balls to bring the required run-rate down to something more manageable, but whatever hope they had of achieving the winning target, was short lived. 

Lewis and Sherfane Rutherford fell six balls apart to leave the Patriots at 88 for 4 after 10 overs.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the remaining batsmen failed to put together any useful partnerships, as they came and went in quick succession.

Gudakesh Motie proved too hard to handle and, as such, finished with career best figures in a spell that included the wicket of Ambati Rayudu. 

The left-arm spinner ended with four wickets for 28, almost single-handedly gifting Amazon Warriors an opening victory, which would not only boost their confidence, but also set them up nicely for the remainder of the campaign.

Scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 197-7 (Hope 54, Ayub 31; Thomas 3-38, Drakes 2-43) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 132 (Lewis 48, Rayudu 32; Motie 4-29, Tahir 2-35) by 65 runs

The Patriots will look to bounce back when they host the Barbados Royals on Saturday.

The 38-year-old Bravo announced his retirement from international cricket last Thursday after the West Indies lost to Sri Lanka by 20 runs effectively ending their world cup campaign.

"I think the time has come," Bravo said. "I've had a very good career. To represent the West Indies for 18 years, had some ups and downs, but as I look back at it I'm very grateful to represent the region and the Caribbean people for so long.”

Gayle, meanwhile, is holding off talk of retirement for the time being as he has hopes of donning West Indies colours at least once more before he calls time on his record-breaking career.

"It's been a phenomenal career. I didn't announce any retirement but they actually give me one game in Jamaica to go in front of my home crowd, then I can say 'hey guys, thank you so much. Let's see. If not, I'll announce it a long time and then I'll be joining DJ Bravo in the backend and say thanks to each and everyone but I can't say that as yet," Gayle said prior to the West Indies’ eight-wicket loss to Australia on Saturday.

Notwithstanding Gayle’s comments, there can be no doubting the fact that his days in international cricket are numbered, a reality that prompted Pooran to pay tribute to both players, who have inspired him.

“Personally, I've witnessed (ed) two gentlemen who have left it all out on the cricket field, from being super excited to reach home fast from school to see @chrisgayle333 smash it all over the park and then see @djbravo47 defend basically less to nothing in a last over and then do his dance celebrations, to then playing with them in their last world cup game, that was something special,” Pooran posted in Instagram on Saturday.

“Seeing you guys walk away today put tears to my eyes but very pleasing at the same time knowing you guys have achieved so much in your careers. So from me to you guys, thank you for my childhood and all the best in whatever you do in the future!”

Meanwhile, Lewis, who opened with Gayle for the West Indies on several occasions, wished the two departing well.

“Words can’t describe. I’m a person of few words but it’s been an honour watching you guys on TV then sharing the same dressing room. Go well champs @djbravo47 @chrisgayle333,” said the power-hitting Trinidadian.

Pooran, perhaps the man to lead the West Indies into a new era, apologized for the team’s poor performances in the world cup and promised that even as two of the game’s greats ride into the sunset of their careers, the West Indies has the talent bounce back stronger than before.

“To our fans all over the world and back home, we know we have disappointed you guys, but let's not forget what we have accomplished in the last nine years winning two titles. It has been a wonderful era, but we will rise again,” he said.

About 18 West Indies players were in the pool of 292 players hoping to fill 61 slots across the eight IPL franchises but only one, Fabian Allen, was sold. The Jamaican all-rounder will join Chris Gayle and Nicholas Pooran at the renamed Punjab Kings for the new season for just over US$100,000.

Meanwhile, the likes of Evin Lewis and Sheldon Cottrell, who had a base price of just under US$150,000 went unsold.

 Darren Bravo, Keemo Paul and Sherfane Rutherford, who each had a similar base price as Allen, also failed to spark any interest among the franchises.

Players like Rovman Powell, Oshane Thomas, Chemar Holder, Fidel Edwards, Carlos Brathwaite and several others, also had a base price of around US$70,000 but their affordability did not seem to make them any more attractive to the cash-rich squads that already had retained several West Indies players like Gayle, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine and the elder of the Bravo brothers, Dwayne.

Pollard heads a seasoned squad of players that include the likes of Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons and the hard-hitting Nicholas Pooran. Darren Bravo, who will form part of the strong squad will also serve as vice-captain for the team that were semi-finalists last time out.

The T&T selectors have also picked the experienced Jason Mohammed, who is on West Indies duty in Bangladesh as well as former West Indies representatives Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin and Ravi Rampaul.

Imran Khan, Akeal Hosein, opener Kjorn Ottley, Khary Pierre, Anderson Phillip and Jayden Seales are also in line to represent the team from the twin-island republic that on paper should start as favourites to win the shortened version of the competition in 2021.

The full squad reads: Kieron Pollard (captain), Darren Bravo (vice-captain), Evin Lewis, Lendl Simmons, Jason Mohammed, Nicholas Pooran, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Imran Khan, Akeal Hosein, Ravi Rampaul, Jayden Seales, Kjorn Ottley, Anderson Phillip, Khary Pierre.

Chris Gayle has also been named in the 15-man squad announced today but there is no place for Odean Smith or Sherfane Rutherford, two of the top performers in the 2021 Hero CPL this year.

West Indies are the defending world champions and only two-time winners of the ICC T20 World Cup, winning in 2012 against Sri Lanka at the Premadasa in Colombo then four years later in 2016 against England in Kolkata.  The West Indies now have the opportunity to create further history by becoming the first team to win a hat-trick of ICC T20 World Cup victories. 

“The squad is one with good depth and strength in all departments. There is tremendous T20 experience along with World Cup-winning experience which should stand the team in good stead,” said Chief Selector Roger Harper.

“This squad is made up of many world-beating players, who once knitted into a world-beating team, will be extremely difficult to beat. I expect the team to do very well and with the ‘rub of the green’ I think the team has a good chance of defending the title.”

Harper said Rampaul will add quality to the squad.

“Ravi Rampaul is a highly experienced bowler, who performed well in the last CG Insurance Super50 Cup and the current Hero CPL to date.  He will boost the team's wicket-taking options in the power-play and the middle phase and will provide another option for the death overs,” Harper said.

“Roston Chase has shown that he is a very capable T20 player. He performed well in the CPL in 2020 and has been outstanding in the 2021 edition so far. He has shown the ability to knit the innings together while still scoring at a fast rate with a low dot-ball percentage. He will be an excellent foil for the explosive players in the team.”

The full squad comprises Kieron Pollard (Captain), Nicholas Pooran (Vice-Captain), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Roston Chase, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Lendl Simmons, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas and Hayden Walsh Jr.

The travelling reserves include Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Jason Holder and Akeal Hosein.

West Indies have been drawn in Group 1 and will play five group games against England, South Africa and Australia along with the winner of  Round 1 Group A (Sri Lanka, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Namibia) and the runner-up from Round 1 Group B (Bangladesh, Scotland, Papua New Guinea, and Oman).

 West Indies’ first group game will be against England in Dubai on October 23.

For the past three years, Shepherd had registered for the draft in the richest T20 league in the world but there were no takers. However, he never gave up hope.

"Eventually, if an IPL contract comes, that would be great for me. I'm not saying that I don't think about it - I do think about it, but I try not to think about it during a game,” he said then.

"It's a great platform. For any youngster, it's their dream to go to the IPL and I'm no different. I'm trying my best to get myself in there. It's something that I've dreamed about for a very long time. My name was in the [auction] for the last three years, so this year, I'm looking forward to it."

That dream became reality on Sunday when during the second day of the auction, he was sold to the Sunrisers Hyderabad for a whopping US$1.03 million dollars.

His was the highest bid for a West Indies player on the second day when several Caribbean players were the beneficiaries of six-figure contracts for the 2022 season of the Indian Premier League.

The big-hitting allrounder Odean Smith, who also made an impression during the series against England, was sold to the Punjab Kings for approximately US$798,000 while Rovman Powell was sold to the Delhi Capitals for US$345,000.

Evin Lewis, who missed the series was sold to the Lucknow Super Giants for US$266,000. Dominic Drakes was told to the Gujarat Titans for US$146,000 and Sherfane Rutherford will join the Royal Challengers Bangalore for US$133,000.

Fabian Allen went for US$99,000 to the Mumbai Indians.

The team features nine Caribbean players and two overseas stars and selection rewards consistent performances across the 2021 tournament. The team heavily features young players from across the Caribbean who have been extremely impressive in this year’s Hero CPL. 

The team includes Ravi Rampaul who is the leading wicket-taker for this season and the World Cup-bound Evin Lewis who has been excellent throughout. The two overseas players who make the team are Faf du Plessis and Tim David, both from the Saint Lucia Kings. The performances of Rampaul and Roston Chase in the tournament has seen them gain selection for the West Indies squad for the ICC T20 World Cup. 

“The commentary panel, in selecting the team of the tournament would like to commend the teams and players for making the job a very challenging one,” said Ian Bishop, former West Indies fast bowler and member of the commentary panel.

“A few players stood head and shoulders above the crowd due to their high level of excellence, and their performance simply made their case impossible to ignore. With the remaining selections there was vigorous debate and sometimes splitting hairs due to the high levels of performance and competition for similar roles from experienced, mid-level and young players.  

 “The abundance of talent, enthusiasm and passion shown by so many players in 2021 was laudable and once again made the tournament extremely competitive and compelling viewing. We accept and welcome the view that fans will have varying opinions and debates on their favourite commend all the players for their distinguished efforts throughout the tournament.” 

 Hero CPL 2021 Team of the Tournament 
Evin Lewis (St Kitts & Nevis Patriots), Faf du Plessis (Saint Lucia Kings), Nicholas Pooran (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Roston Chase (Saint Lucia Kings), Kieron Pollard (Trinbago Knight Riders), Tim David (Saint Lucia Kings), Sunil Narine (Trinbago Knight Riders), Romario Shepherd (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Odean Smith (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Akeal Hosein (Trinbago Knight Riders) and Ravi Rampaul (Trinbago Knight Riders). 

T

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots won the toss and chose to field first, with the Royals getting off to a subdued start, reaching 55-2 after 10 overs before a superb 102-run partnership between Azam Khan and Harry Tector propelled them to 156-3 after 20 overs.  In their chase, the Patriots got off to a confident start with Andre Fletcher and Evin Lewis building a platform but faltered as the wickets tumbled in the final five overs to leave them 120 all out after 20 overs, losing by 36 runs.

Barbados Royals, who have already secured a place in next week’s playoffs, got off to a very cautious start in their innings, losing openers Rahkeem Cornwall and captain Kyle Mayers in the first eight overs. Sheldon Cottrell, returning to the Patriots' side, led by example in the early overs with a disciplined performance. Yet Khan and Tector revived the Royals innings with some fantastic shot-making that helped reap 95 runs in the final eight overs to take the Royals to 156-3. 

St Kitts & Nevis Patriots had got off to a positive start, Fletcher and Lewis navigating their way through the PowerPlay, before Mujeeb ur Rahman took both wickets. The Patriots never found consistency after that, losing seven wickets in the final five overs of the game, as Mujeeb found support from Nyeem Young, who also took three wickets.

 The win means Barbados Royals continue their excellent form this season while the Patriots are outside the play-off spots with one game left to play. 

 Scores: Barbados Royals 156-3 (Khan 64, Tector 47*; Dananjaya 1-25, Jansen 1-32) beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 120 all out (Lewis 41, Brevis 21; Young 3-5, Mujeeb 3-18) by 36 runs.

Chasing a target of 233, Man-of-the-Match Hope scored 110 and Lewis featured in an opening stand of 143, a record-opening stand for the West Indies against Sri Lanka in the West Indies, which was ended when the latter was bowled by an in-swinging yorker from Dushmantha Chameera for 65.

Lewis had faced 90 balls in his 109-minute stay at the crease hitting four fours and two sixes.

Hope, who dropped from the West Indies Test squad last year for loss of form, was a picture of composure, facing 136 balls from which he hit 12 fours and a six in his 10th ODI century before he, too, was bowled by Dushmantha Chameera who finished with 2-50 from his 10 overs.

Hope also shared in a 72-run second-wicket stand with Darren Bravo who hit two fours and a six and in his unbeaten on 37 at the end. With him was Jason Mohammed, who was not out on 13.

Sri Lanka would have been disappointed after winning the toss and opting to take first strike, were given a solid platform of 105.

The partnership was broken two balls into the 20^th over by Kieron Pollard, who brilliantly caught Dimuth Karunaratne off his own bowling for 52. He had faced 61 balls and struck four fours in his 89 minutes at the crease.

Eleven balls later it was 112 for 2 when Danushka Gunathilaka, who was going well on 55 when he was controversially given out for obstructing the field, ending his 98-minute stay at the crease during which he struck seven fours from the 61 balls he faced.

The incident seemed to rattle Sri Lanka as two run-outs (Pathum Nissanka and Angelo Matthews) followed that saw Sri Lanka slide to 126 for 4.

Ashen Bandara scored the third half-century of the Sri Lankan innings that provided some stability to the lower order but by then the run rate had fallen before five runs and over and he was without a partner who could successfully take on the West Indies bowling attack.

His was the ninth wicket to fall in the 48^th over bowled by Jason Holder for an even 50 that included four fours.

Holder, who also accounted for the wicket of Chameera returned figures of 2-39. Jason Mohammed, who was introduced into the attack late had 2-12 from his four overs having claimed the wickets of Kamindu Mendis and Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva.

There was a wicket each for Alzarri Joseph, Pollard and Fabian Allen, in a performance of which Coach Phil Simmons would be proud.

The Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to bat first and posted a very challenging 166-3 buttressed by a sparkling partnership between Mohammed Hafeez and Shimron Hetmyer.

In reply, the Patriots fired once more with the bat to chase down the target led by Sherfane Rutherford’s unbeaten 59 from 34 balls.

The Amazon Warriors had paced their innings superbly and they had Hafeez to thank, his 70 runs from 59 balls anchored the innings allowing Hetmyer to play his natural game.

The pair put on a 101-run partnership from 67 deliveries, but both fell in successive balls in the 18th over. Nicholas Pooran and Brandon King then scrambled some late runs to ensure the Amazon Warriors posted their highest score of the tournament so far.

A target of 167 looked like a hard task, but the Patriots openers Evin Lewis and Devon Thomas laid the foundation for the chase with an opening stand of 69.

The introduction of Imran Tahir proved crucial for the Amazon Warriors as he removed both openers to swing the game back in their favour.

However, the heroes from the Patriots opening game, Rutherford and Dwayne Bravo forged another match-winning partnership to bring the Patriots to the verge of victory.

Bravo was dismissed with 18 runs still needed but Rutherford made light work of the equation with his second 50 of the tournament to seal a memorable win.

They have also signed Denesh Ramdin from the Trinbago Knight Riders. Captain Rayad Emrit, who has also been retained, is excited by the decisions made on player retentions and the hiring of a new coach.

“I am very excited to be part of the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots for a second season,” said the veteran bowler.

“I think that the team that is selected this year is going to be a very exciting one. I am very excited to be named as captain. It's always an honour and a privilege to lead a franchise.

“Our new coach, Simon Helmot, knows the CPL and he knows how to win titles. He and I are going to work very hard to get the team to the finals.”

Promising fast bowler Alzarri Joseph has also been retained with Dominic Drakes in as the emerging player.

The franchise will announce international retentions and signings later. For the 2020 season teams can retain as many players from their 2019 squads as they wish. They could also transfer players to other teams and sign emerging players.

The CPL is scheduled to take place between August 19 and September 26 but the tournament organisers are currently watching the current situation with COVID-19 closely and are liaising with medical advisors and governments.

The CPL said a decision on whether the tournament can proceed as planned, or at a different time, will be made as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Jason Holder is being rested for this tour due to workload management and Fabian Allen and Obed McCoy are unavailable due to injury and rehabilitation. Evin Lewis, Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell and Lendl Simmons are all unavailable due to personal reasons, CWI said.

Greaves, Motie and Smith have been called up for the ODIs along with middle-order batsman Shamarh Brooks.

Smith and Motie are also selected in the T20I squad for the first time, along with left-arm fast-bowling all-rounder Dominic Drakes. Motie was a travelling reserve for the recent ICC T20 World Cup, while Drakes and Smith were net bowlers before the start of the tournament

“There are a number of talented newcomers in each format that will have the opportunity to show what they are capable of at the international level,” said Chief Selector Roger Harper.

“Justin Greaves is a very talented player, had a good CG Insurance Super50 tournament and performed well in the President’s XI match against Ireland in 2020. Odean Smith really grabbed our attention in the last CPL. His pace was never in question, however, he has added greater control and has displayed the ability to be a wicket-taker.”

Brooks gets called after his performances in the last Super 50 Cup.

“Shamarh Brooks batted well in the CG Insurance Super50 Cup and followed that up with good performances in the CPL,” Harper explained.

“He will lend greater depth to the batting line-up. Gudakesh Motie has been rewarded for his outstanding performance in the CG Insurance Super50, followed up by his showing in the CPL. Dominic Drakes has the potential to be an outstanding all-rounder as he displayed during the last CPL.

 “The ODIs in Pakistan are part of the ICC ODI Super League where points gained work towards qualification for the ICC World Cup 2023. So these ODI’s are very important to us and are being treated as such.”

The ODI Series will be West Indies fourth series of 12 in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League in which the top seven teams can secure automatic qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India. West Indies currently lie in eighth position out of 13 teams and have the opportunity to move above Pakistan into seventh position.

The full squads are as follows:

One-Day Internationals: Kieron Pollard (Captain), Shai Hope (Vice-Captain), Darren Bravo, Shamarh Brooks, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Nicholas Pooran, Raymon Reifer, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith and Hayden Walsh Jr.

 T20 Internationals: Kieron Pollard (Captain), Nicholas Pooran (Vice-Captain), Darren Bravo, Roston Chase, Sheldon Cottrell, Dominic Drakes, Shai Hope, Akeal Hosein, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Romario Shepherd, Odean Smith, Oshane Thomas and Hayden Walsh Jr.

TOUR SCHEDULE
December 13 – 1st T20I, Karachi
December 14 – 2nd T20I, Karachi
December 16 – 3rd T20I, Karachi
December 18 – 1st ODI, Karachi
December 20 – 2nd ODI, Karachi
December 22 – 3rd ODI, Karachi

The Patriots will also retain middle-order batsman Sherfane Rutherford, all-rounder Dominic Drakes as well as fast bowler Sheldon Cottrell and wicketkeeper/batsman Joshua da Silva. The Patriots have also brought in Oshane Thomas who was transferred from the Barbados Royals.

The tournament gets underway on 16 August with the final taking place on 24 September. There will be matches in Barbados, Guyana, St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad & Tobago.

The overseas players and draft picks will be announced during the Republic Bank CPL draft show which will be broadcast at the end of June.

 The Universe Boss, Chris Gayle, lifted his own trophy as the Patriots won the inaugural men’s SKYEXCH 6IXTY. In the poetry of cricket, Gayle was dropped twice in one over before he hit the winning runs to see his team over the line. You couldn’t have scripted it better. It was written in the stars.

When put in to bat in the men’s final the Trinbago Knight Riders had a tricky start to their innings losing two early wickets and finding themselves 6/2 after just nine balls. Sunil Narine, who had batted so brilliantly in the semi-final, was dismissed without scoring before some incredible wicket-keeping from Da Silva saw the back of Tion Webster.

Andre Russell looked to be the difference and was striking the ball well, but a stunning piece of fielding put an end to his efforts before Terrance Hinds and Seekkuge Prasanna were both sent packing. Resistance in the form of an unbeaten 37 from Tim Seifert meant the Patriots needed 85 to win.

The chase started with gusto from the Patriots who unlocked the extra Powerplay for the first time in the tournament and they raced to 43/0 after just 20 balls. Russell made the initial breakthrough bowling Lewis for 21 and Narine made light work of Dewald Brevis who went without scoring. But the excitement really started when the Universe Boss strolled out to bat.

With a trophy named after him and eternal bragging rights on the line, he came out with his usual intent and went aerial. This always has its dangers and with just 13 needed from 12 the ball found Jayden Seales, who dropped him before just two balls later he was also dropped by Anderson Phillip.

With seven needed off the final over, Gayle and Fletcher rotated strike until, with four required, it was the man after whom the trophy was named to face. In his usual style, he swung hard and found the boundary on the onside. As the ball raced away for four, the Patriots were already celebrating, and Gayle’s wry smile was just an indication of what it meant to win the inaugural title and lift a trophy named after him.

 Shakera Selman produced a magical spell to stun the Trinbago Knight Riders women and help her team become the first to lift the women’s Universe Boss SKYEXCH 6IXTY trophy. With the Knight Riders already on the ropes, Selman claimed three wickets in the penultimate over to clean up the Knight Riders’ batters and ensure a 15-run victory.

 Batting first, Royals’ openers captain Hayley Matthews and Aaliyah Alleyne set the foundations before Matthews fell for 15. Their troubles continued when the in-form Chloe Tryon was stumped without adding to the score and Alleyne not long after, both thanks to the bowling brilliance from Anisa Mohammed in the middle overs.

 Chinelle Henry put up resistance with her 15 and the batting side reached 64 before Cooper was stumped for 6 and the Royals were all out 65 off 56 balls. It had been an all-round effort in the field by the Knight Riders and with the Deandra Dottin opening the batting and in fine form, they looked confident as they came out to chase the runs in pursuit of the title.

 When Lee-Ann Kirby fell in the first over it was clear the chase would not be easy. Then in a shock twist, Dottin chopped onto her own stumps in the same over and suddenly the Knight Riders were 13/2 at the end of the second. The Royals continued to keep a lid on the run chase and remained disciplined in their bowling.

 The boundaries dried up and there was a spell of 37 balls before the ball found the rope. The game was in the balance with the batting side needing 19 from 12 and it looked like a nailbiter was brewing. However, it was here that Selman produced her incredible over claiming Jensen caught by Matthews for 7 before Luus was caught at mid-off and Kycia Knight was caught by Joseph to seal the victory.

 The Barbados Royals has secured the title in the inaugural women's SKYEXCH 6IXTY and the party could begin.

Earlier in the day, four men’s teams had taken to the field across the two semi-finals. The first of the day saw St Kitts & Nevis Patriots get the better of the Jamaica Tallawahs as they made history with the highest successful run chase of the tournament. The game also saw the Universe Boss Chris Gayle launch his first SKYEXCH maximum of the tournament to raucous cheers from the partying crowd.

In semi-final two the Barbados Royals came flying out of the traps much due to the rockets being launched off the bat of Rakheem Cornwall. But when he was dismissed the run-rate slowed and the Royals could only manage 101/5 from their 60 balls. TKR raced to 43/1 after Sunil Narine was dismissed for 31 but Tion Webster batted well for his 27 which helped put a dent in the chase. In the end, it was a huge six from the bat of Hinds that saw them into the final winning by three wickets with eight balls remaining. 

It truly was a ground-breaking tournament full of all the thrills and spills and everything in between and what better way for it to finish than with the image of the Universe Boss lifting the Universe Boss Trophy.

There was drama before a ball was bowled at Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday, as De Kock made himself unavailable for selection after refusing a Cricket South Africa demand for all Proteas players to take a knee before the rest of their games in the tournament.

South Africa secured their first Group 1 win, following a loss to Australia in their opening match, as they chased down a target of 144 with 10 balls to spare.

West Indies were embarrassingly bowled out for 55 in a crushing loss to England in their first game, but this time they posted 143-8 after being put in by Temba Bavuma.

Evin Lewis top-scored with an explosive 56 from 35 balls, with Dwaine Pretorius taking 3-17 and Keshav Maharaj 2-24 as Kieron Pollard's side lost their way in the second half of their innings.

Reeza Hendricks (39) laid a platform for South Africa after Bavuma was run out by a direct hit from Andre Russell in the first over.

Markram (51 not out from 26 balls) and Van der Dussen (43 from 51) then combined for an unbroken third-wicket stand of 83 to get the Proteas up and running in the Super 12 stage.

West Indies have lost three consecutive T20I matches and face a major battle to qualify for the semi-finals of a tournament they won five years ago.

Lewis lays platform as Simmons struggles

There were two contrasting innings from the defending champions' openers, with Lewis in great touch and Lendl Simmons struggling.

Simmons laboured to 16 from 35 balls after he was dropped by stand-in keeper Heinrich Klaasen on four, failing to score a boundary.

Lewis, on the other hand, raced to a half-century in 32 balls, clearing the rope six times before he was caught in the deep by Kagiso Rabada off Maharaj. Pollard made a quickfire 26 before a flurry of late wickets fell in the Windies innings.

Aiden makes his Mark along with ice-cool Van der Dussen

Markram and Van der Dussen provided an exhibition of how to go about a run chase as West Indies ran out of ideas.

Akeal Hosein (1-27) was the only Windies bowler to take a wicket thanks to a great diving catch from Shimron Hetmyer to see the back of Hendricks.

Markram played the role of aggressor, hitting four sixes, while the composed Van der Dussen ticked along nicely as South Africa cruised home amid huge doubts over whether De Kock will play any further part in the World Cup.