West Indies all-rounder Dwayne Bravo has expressed delight at the success achieved by St Kitts and Nevis Patriots after joining the team as part of a personal challenge earlier this year.
The 37-year-old all-rounder announced his decision, in April, to join the Patriots after seven years with Trinbago Knight Riders, where he won four CPL titles. Ahead of requesting a trade to the eastern Caribbean team, Bravo had cited a desire to help mould a new generation of upcoming cricketers.
With the performance of some of the Patriot's younger players this season, the move might just have paid dividends. Opening batsman Evin Lewis has an astounding season to date, having racked up a record 420 runs so far, with Wednesday’s final still to be added to the tally. Sherfane Rutherford has also done well with the bat, tallying 237 runs in 10 games so far, with a number of eye-catching performances, while Dominic Drakes has featured prominently among the league’s top bowlers with 15 wickets to date.
“When I decided on making the move I said I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to try and help the younger players in different teams. So to get to the finals, to see the way that Sherfane Rutherford played through the tournament and Evin, young Drakes, that gives me all the pleasure and I think I achieved what I wanted to achieve,” Bravo said, following the team’s semifinal win over the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
“I wanted to help build a team that could actually compete in the tournament and press on to try and win a trophy and we have one more game, it’s going to be a difficult game because the St Lucia Kings have been playing well.”
The final will be the second for St Kitts and Nevis who also made the 2017 final where they lost to a Knight Rider team of which Bravo was a part.