St Lucia Zouks Captain Darren Sammy said his team fell several runs short of what was required to achieve victory against the Trinbago Knight Riders in today’s final of the 2020 Hero CPL.
The Zouks, first-time finalists posted a competitive score of 154 off 19.1 overs, thanks to Andre Fletcher’s top score of 39 and scores of 29 from Mark Deyal, 24 from Roston Chase, and 24 from Najibullah Zadran.
However, the total was not nearly enough as TKR smashed their way to victory with 11 balls to spare.
Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo posted an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 138 to lead their side to their fourth CPL title.
Sammy, in his post-match comments, lamented that the Zouks did not get more runs after being in a strong position of 77 for 2 in the ninth over of their innings.
“We thought we were about 15-20 runs short from the start we had. Plus, we didn't complete our batting innings and when you play against a side like TKR you have to make sure you at least make full use of your overs. But we still felt we had enough when we put them under pressure in the first six overs,” he said.
“But these guys, Bravo and Simmons, have played so much together; they absorbed the pressure and put it back on us.”
Despite the outcome, Sammy said the Zouks fought bravely and put in a solid shift against the now four-time champions.
“I think we really pushed TKR in all three games we played against them in the tournament and I'm really proud of that,” he said.
“The message from the last few days is we never quit. The whole nation was behind us. We're very disappointed but we have shown that if we play a brand of cricket, we'll get results. I think we've put our hands up this tournament.”
The former West Indies captain said, however, that there were other positives to take from the final.
“Of course when you lose a final you think about things you could have done differently. Maybe I should have been more sure about the decision I wanted to take towards the end. But we've been resilient, we showed commitment and we played a brand of cricket that shows you don't need superstars. For eight years we have been trying to get to the final and we got here,” he said.
“Congratulations to Kieron Pollard and his team and I really want to thank CPL to have cricket in this time. We created an opportunity in the Caribbean for people to smile. And thanks to my team for the way they have turned up.”