The 2023 edition of the Women's CPL will feature seven matches, as opposed to four in the inaugural season last year. The league will host will get underway on August 30, with the final taking place on September 10 in Trinidad and Tobago.
As was the case last year, the sides taking part are Trinbago Knight Riders, Barbados Royals and Guyana Amazon Warriors. Barbados will serve as the other venue for the tournament.
In 2022, each side played one group game, before TKR, led by Deandra Dottin, beat Barbados Royals, who were captained by current West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews, in the final in St Kitts.
This time around, the group stage will feature a double round-robin format, with the top two qualifying for the final.
"We are hugely excited to have an expanded WCPL schedule for 2023 and we are grateful to the government of Trinidad & Tobago for their support in helping to grow the tournament in 2023," Pete Russell, the CPL CEO, said.
Minister of Sport and Community Development Shamfa Cudjoe said: "Once again, the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is pleased to partner with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) as we get ready to host the final match of the 2023 Women's CPL. The hosting of this game comes at an opportune time as it strategically aligns with the goal of the Ministry's ongoing Pink Reign TT campaign, which speaks to promoting women and girls in sport."
The scheduling of the WCPL means the tournament avoids a clash with the Women's Hundred this year, with that competition running from August 1 to 27. It allows Matthews and Dottin to be available for the entirety of the Hundred before the WCPL starts, and frees other players signed up to both tournaments to play each in full. There was a significant overlap last year, with the final of the Women's Hundred on September 3 and the WCPL final the following day.
Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Ayabonga Khaka, Chamari Athapaththu, Hayley Jensen and Fatima Sana were the overseas players at the 2022 WCPL.
Veteran players Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine are among six players retained by the four-time CPL champions, Trinbago Knight Riders ahead of the 2023 season scheduled to begin in August.
TKR have also confirmed the retention of Andre Russell, Nicholas Pooran, Akeal Hosein and Jayden Seales.
The Knight Riders have also secured the services of Dwayne Bravo who will be returning to the franchise from the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots. They will also have Mark Deyal as part of their setup in 2023 with the batter joining the Knight Riders from the Saint Lucia Kings.
The decision to retain the aforementioned players is good news for Head Coach Phil Simmons.
“We are very happy to be able to retain most of the Caribbean players from last year’s TKR squad. The experience of Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, and Nicholas Pooran coupled with Dwayne Bravo’s return gives our squad a very strong core,” the former West Indies head coach declared.
“In youngsters like Akeal Hosein, Jayden Seales, and Mark Deyal, we have some of the best young talent from Trinidad representing TKR.
“We’re looking forward to the remaining international signings, and I am excited by the player draft coming up soon to complete the roster and put together a strong squad for CPL 2023.”
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 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.
Dwayne Bravo has returned to Trinbago Knight Riders ahead of the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Bravo returns to the Knight Riders after two seasons with the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, having won the title with them in 2021.
Bravo is the leading wicket taker in T20 history and has more wickets than any other player at the CPL with 124 victims in this 97 matches. Bravo is also the leading wicket taker for the Knight Riders with more than 100 wickets for his home franchise.
The all-rounder represented the Trinidad franchise from 2013 to 2020 claiming the title four times in that period. With five CPL titles Bravo is the most successful player in the tournament’s history and he is synonymous with Trinidad cricket so his return to his home team will be an exciting prospect for Knight Riders fans.
TKR Captain Kieron Pollard was elated at the news.
"Very exciting times. The champion DJ Bravo is coming back to his home franchise TKR," he said.
"Our relationship and our friendship is second to none and this is a very good opportunity for us both to represent TKR together once again, in the upcoming season. We are very happy to have him back in red and black."
Venky Mysore, TKR Team Director was also glad to have Bravo back in the TKF fold.
“DJ (Champion) Bravo has been one of the key pillars on which TKR has been built," he said.
"We are delighted to welcome him back home and look forward to another enjoyable season. There’s no doubt the entire #TeamTKR and our fans will eagerly look forward to seeing him back in TKR colours.”
The complete squads for the Republic Bank CPL will be announced during the draft show which will be broadcast at the end June 2023.
Trinbago Knight Riders have appointed former West Indies coach Phil Simmons as their new head coach. He replaces Abhishek Nayar, who is currently the assistant coach for Kolkata Knight Riders.
TKR, the most successful team in the history of the Caribbean Premier League with four titles, finished bottom of the league stage last year and failed to make the playoffs for the first time.
Simmons has previous coaching experience in the CPL as well and, in his most recent stint, he won the title with Barbados Royals, who were then known as Barbados Tridents.
Simmons has had two stints as head coach of West Indies, with his most recent one ending with their tour of Australia in December last year. He then went on to coach Dubai Capitals in the inaugural season of the International League T20, leading them to the playoffs.
"As captain, I'm very excited to have coach Phil with us. We have a great chemistry working together as a pair," Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard said.
"We've done it in the international scene, and it's great that we are getting the opportunity to work for TKR. Hopefully, this combination will bring smiles and some exciting results back to TKR," he added.
Apart from West Indies, Simmons has also coached Zimbabwe, Ireland and Afghanistan.
CPL 2023 gets underway on August 16, with Knight Riders playing their first game on August 19 against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
The venues and fixtures for the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) have been confirmed with the tournament taking place from 16 August to 24 September in Saint Lucia, St Kitts & Nevis, Barbados, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana.
The tournament gets underway in Saint Lucia with six matches at the Daren Sammy Cricket ground between 16 August and 20 August with home side the Saint Lucia Kings appearing in four of those fixtures.
From there the tournament moves on the St Kitts & Nevis with six matches at Warner Park between 23 August and 27 August with four games for the home team, the Patriots.
The next leg of the tournament will take place in Barbados with the CPL returning to the country for the first time since 2019. With six matches scheduled for the iconic Kensington Oval, and four home games for the Barbados Royals, there will be lots of excitement about the tournament’s return. The matches will take place in Barbados from 30 August to 3 September.
From 5 September to 10 September the tournament will be in Trinidad & Tobago. There will be four home games for the Trinbago Knight Riders and six matches in total.
The final leg of the tournament will take place in Guyana with the matches running from 13 September to 24 September. The knockout stages will be in Guyana again in 2023, with excitement already building after the successful running of the final last season.
“We are very pleased that the tournament will be staged in five countries in 2023,” said Pete Russell, Republic Bank CPL’s CEO. “As ever, the CPL is a chance for fans across the region and around the world to enjoy world class cricket. And for the players from the Caribbean it is an opportunity to showcase their skills and further their careers.”
Men’s Caribbean Premier League 2023 Fixtures
Darren Sammy Cricket Stadium, St Lucia
Weds 16 August, 7pm - Saint Lucia Kings vs Jamaica Tallawahs
Thurs 17 August, 7pm - Saint Lucia Kings vs Barbados Royals
Sat 19 August, 10am -Trinbago Knight Riders vs St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
7pm - Saint Lucia Kings vs Guyana Amazon Warriors
Sun 20 August, 10am - Jamaica Tallawahs vs Barbados Royals
7:00pm - Saint Lucia Kings vs St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
Warner Park, St Kitts and Nevis
Wed 23 August, 7pm - St Kitts & Nevis Patriots vs Jamaica Tallawahs
Thurs 24 August, 7pm- St Kitts & Nevis Patriots vs Guyana Amazon Warriors
Sat 26 August, 10am - Saint Lucia Kings vs Trinbago Knight Riders
7pm -St Kitts & Nevis Patriots vs Barbados Royals
Sun 27 August, 10am - Jamaica Tallawahs vs Guyana Amazon Warriors
7pm - St Kitts & Nevis Patriots vs Trinbago Knight Riders
Kensington Oval, Barbados
Wed 30 August, 7pm - Barbados Royals vs Trinbago Knight Riders
Thurs 31 August, 7pm -Barbados Royals vs Jamaica Tallawahs
Sat 2 September, 10am - Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Jamaica Tallawahs
8pm - Barbados Royals vs Saint Lucia Kings
Sun 3 September, 10am - Jamaica Tallawahs vs Trinbago Knight Riders
8pm - Barbados Royals vs St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
Trinidad and Tobago – Venues to be decided
Tues 5 September, 7pm - Trinbago Knight Riders vs Barbados Royals
Wed 6 September, 7pm - Trinbago Knight Riders vs Guyana Amazon Warriors
Sat 9 September, 10am - St Kitts & Nevis Patriots vs Saint Lucia Kings
8pm - Trinbago Knight Riders vs Jamaica Tallawahs
Sun 10 September, 10am - Barbados Royals vs Guyana Amazon Warriors
8pm- Trinbago Knight Riders vs Saint Lucia Kings
Guyana National Stadium, Providence
Wed 13 September, 7pm - Guyana Amazon Warriors vs St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
Thurs 14 September, 7pm - Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Saint Lucia Kings
Sat 16 September, 10am - Jamaica Tallawahs vs St Kitts & Nevis Patriots
7pm - Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Trinbago Knight Riders
Sun 17 September, 10am - Jamaica Tallawahs vs Saint Lucia Kings
7pm - Guyana Amazon Warriors vs Barbados Royals
Tues 19 September, 7pm - Eliminator – 3rd place vs 4th place
Wed 19 September, 7pm - Qualifier 1 – 1st place vs 2nd place
Fri 22 September, 7pm - Qualifier 2 – Winner of Eliminator vs Loser Qualifier 1
Sun 24 September, 7pm - Final – Winner Qualifier 1 vs Winner Qualifier 2
The 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) generated a huge economic impact for the countries who hosted matches with a total figure of US$200,935,772, a 47% increase on the amount generated during the 2019 tournament, the last time the Hero CPL travelled around the region.
The total direct economic impact on the region from Hero CPL 2022 was US$134,686,551 with an additional US$66,250,232 in sponsorship value as a result of the Hero CPL broadcast which was watched by over 700million viewers in 2022.
The four countries who held Hero CPL matches were St Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Trinidad & Tobago and Guyana. St Kitts & Nevis also hosted the first running of the Massy Women’s CPL (WCPL) and the SKYEXCH 6IXTY. The tournament has created jobs and generated income in all of these countries as the Caribbean continues to be central to the success of the Hero CPL.
The rise in economic impact has, in part, been driven by the change to the tournament structure that now sees all six teams, TV production crew and tournament staff travelling around the region as one cohort, spending more time in each of the host countries. With more matches being played per host country, travelling fans are now offered even greater value to come and watch the Hero CPL and as a result there was a significant increase in international arrivals across the tournament in 2022.
This figure was generated by independent, world-renowned research company, YouGov Sport. This figure takes into account the total spent by Hero CPL to put on the 2022 event, the value of media exposure for the country from the broadcast of matches and the money spent with local business by those who travelled around the region for the tournament.
The Hero CPL was responsible for filling 54,702 hotel nights across the region, with players, TV crew, CPL and franchise staff and other visitors all helping to generate further revenue for local businesses and suppliers.
The total viewership for the 2022 Hero CPL was a record 721.8million, a record for the tournament. This is the third successive year that the tournament has generated a viewership figure of over half a billion. This increase in viewership gave even more exposure to host countries throughout the tournament, adding further value to hosting Hero CPL matches.
Pete Russell, Hero CPL’s CEO, said: “The value that Hero CPL brings to host countries has been long established but for the economic impact of the tournament to pass US$200million for the first time is another milestone in the decade long history of the event. Hero CPL creates jobs, fills hotel rooms, boosts tourism and attracts visitors into host countries, both during the tournament and beyond. We are very excited to see this Caribbean product continue to grow its global reach while still hugely benefiting the region.”
Guyana Amazon Warriors secured their place in the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) play-offs with a 37-run win over Trinbago Knight Riders.
Trinbago Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field in this must-win game, with Amazon Warriors opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz giving the fans at Providence stadium a spectacle, scoring 60 from 42 balls to ignite the Warrior’s innings and help take them to 173-6.
In their chase, the Trinbago Knight Riders built a steady opening partnership through Tim Seifert and Colin Munro, but wickets then fell throughout their innings as the Amazon Warriors were spurred on by a vocal home crowd. The Knight Riders finished 136 all out and lost by 37 runs.
Guyana Amazon Warriors suffered an early setback in their innings as Ravi Rampaul showed his effectiveness in the PowerPlay by taking the wicket of Chandrapaul Hemraj. Gurbaz would then play some spectacular shots to accelerate the run rate. Sunil Narine, who did not bowl until the 12th over, would claw the Knight Riders back into the game by taking the key wickets of Shakib Al Hasan and Romario Shepherd. A remarkable late blitz from Odean Smith, scoring 23 runs from 7 balls, would then catapult the Warriors to 173/6.
Trinbago Knight Riders had a good start in their chase, Seifert and Munro keeping up with the run rate, but led by Shakib, the Warriors fought back to take wickets, including some spectacular fielding to dismiss Nicholas Pooran. Once captain Kieron Pollard was out stumped, the Knight Riders faced an uphill battle and finished on 136 all out.
The result means that Trinbago Knight Riders have been eliminated from play-off contention.
St Kitts & Nevis Patriots secured a seven-run win over the Trinbago Knight Riders to stay in contention for a 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) play-off spot on Thursday.
St Kitts & Nevis Patriots won the toss and chose to bat in this must-win game, but were restricted early on as the Knight Riders rotated five bowlers across the powerplay. Sherfane Rutherford would change the complexion of the innings with a brilliant 78 runs, aided by a spectacular cameo from Dewald Brevis, to take the Patriots to 163-6.
In their chase, the Trinbago Knight Riders struggled to build partnerships as wickets consistently fell. Despite this, they remained with a chance of winning the match as Tim Seifert and Andre Russell scored crucial late runs, but it proved to be in vain as they could only muster 156-7, losing by seven runs.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots were frustrated by the bowling of the Knight Riders in the first 10 overs, reaching 43-3 and having lost the key wicket of Evin Lewis. Rutherford would then shoulder the responsibility of carrying the innings as he patiently scored runs before accelerating in the last three overs, to finish on 78 runs. Brevis would remarkably score 30 runs from just six balls, constantly clearing the boundary to propel the Patriots to 163-6.
Trinbago Knight Riders lost the early wickets of Leonardo Julien and Colin Munro in their chase, with spinners Kevin Sinclair and Rashid Khan restricting runs. Kieron Pollard and Nicholas Pooran would then lose their wickets as the Knight Riders found themselves in serious trouble.
Seifert kept the chase alive with a valiant half-century. Despite Russell scoring 18 runs in the 19th over, it was not to be enough as Sheldon Cottrell delivered a composed final over to take the Patriots to victory..
Scores: St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 163-6 (Rutherford 78, Brevis 30*; Dupavillon 3-38, Patel 1-7) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 156-7 (Seifert 59, Pollard 31; Cottrell 3-33, Sinclair 2-18) by seven runs.
Saint Lucia Kings made it three wins on the spin in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a thrilling one-run victory over the Trinbago Knight Riders on Sunday night.
The Knight Riders won the toss and opted to field first and that decision appeared to have backfired when Johnson Charles’ half-century got the Kings off to a lightning start.
Although the Knight Riders pegged the Kings back in the middle overs a devastating 33 off 14 balls from David Wiese ensured the Knight Riders were set a very difficult 148 to win.
The Knight Riders’ task became even more difficult when they lost three early wickets inside the PowerPlay including that of Nicholas Pooran for a duck.
They never really recovered from that and left themselves too much ground to make up in the back end resulting in the narrow defeat.
The Kings had got off to a flier in the PowerPlay with the tournament’s top scorer Charles hitting another barnstorming fifty. His partnership with Niroshan Dickwella added 59 runs before Ravi Rampaul carried on his good form by removing the latter.
When Rampaul removed the set Charles it led to a squeeze on the Kings scorecard as 82-3 quickly became 117-5.
However, David Wiese was able to produce an excellent counter-attacking innings at the death to help the Kings post a challenging 147.
The Knight Riders' response saw their top order fail again as Leonardo Julien, Colin Munro and Nicholas Pooran all fell inside the powerplay to Roston Chase.
That left the middle and lower order too much to do and despite a late salvo by Andre Russell in the final over of the game, it was too little too late.
The two sides swap places in the table following the results and both will now head to Guyana with all to play for in the race for the playoffs.
Scores: Saint Lucia Kings 147-6 (Charles 54, Wiese 33; Rampaul 2-10, Narine 2-31) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 146-6 (Seifert 44, Pollard 34; Chase 3-17, Joseph 2-26) by 1 run.
Trinbago Knight Riders made it two wins on the spin in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign with a nervy victory against the Jamaica Tallawahs on Saturday night.
The Tallawahs won the toss and surprisingly opted to bat first and that decision backfired almost immediately.
Losing four wickets in the PowerPlay, the Tallawahs were in trouble at 25-4 and despite a 50-run partnership between Fabian Allen and Imad Wasim too much was left to do at the back end.
116-7 never looked like it was enough but the Tallawahs fought gamely to defend the total taking out six wickets in the process.
However, Andre Russell and Akeal Hosein saw the chase home to move the Knight Riders into the top four.
Earlier on Ravi Rampaul impressed to uproot the Tallawahs batting, the seam bowler took 4-19 including three in the PowerPlay to put the Knight Riders in complete control.
The Tallawahs only had an energetic Fabian Allen half-century to thank to prevent a total collapse.
The Knight Riders made hard going of what should have been a simple chase. Openers Nicholas Pooran and Tion Webster both fell for ducks to leave the Knight Riders 0-2 in the first two overs. But Colin Munro and Tim Seifert rebuilt the innings with a 50-run partnership.
When the pair fell in quick succession the Tallawahs had a moment of hope but Russell and Hosein ensured there would be no dramatic defeat, guiding the Knight Riders home with five balls to spare.
Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 119-6 (Munro 40, Seifert 28; Amir 2-15, Green 1-12) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 116-7 (Fabian 50, Brooks 20; Rampaul 4-19, Narine 1-21) by 4 wickets.
Trinbago Knight Riders ended their three-game losing streak and reignited their Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign with an exciting win against the Guyana Amazon Warriors Wednesday night.
The Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to field first and they produced a disciplined performance with the ball that kept the Knight Riders in check throughout.
Led by Tabraiz Shamsi’s 4-36, wickets were taken at regular intervals to ensure that no batter ever felt comfortable at the crease as the Knight Riders reached 150-8.
Needing 151 to win the Amazon Warriors got off to the worst possible start losing Paul Sterling for a duck and three wickets in total in the power play.
Shimron Hetmyer and Colin Ingram briefly threatened to take the game away from the Knight Riders but when Andre Russell removed Hetmyer the collapse began and the remaining Amazon Warriors batters fell for just 26 runs.
Earlier on the Knight Riders had constructed their best total of the Hero CPL campaign courtesy of a well-compiled 42 from Colin Munro. Overcoming the early loss of Tion Webster and Nicholas Pooran, Munro combined with Tim Siefert to compile a 51-run partnership that set a foundation for some late order risk taking.
Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard and Ravi Rampaul hit a combined five sixes to help the Knight Riders set a total of 150 runs that always appeared as if it would be tricky to chase.
This proved to be the case in the Amazon Warrior reply. No batter was able to face more than 20 deliveries despite reaching 81-4 in the 10th over. The Amazon Warriors lost their remaining six wickets for 43 runs to succumb to a heavy defeat.
The returning Akeal Hosein proved to be crucial in the Knight Riders' bowling attack taking 3-36 and he was ably supported by the parsimonious Andre Russell (3-16) and Sunil Narine (2-9).
Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 150-8 (Munro 42, Seifert 27; Shamsi 4-36, Shepherd 3-22) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 124 all out (Hemraj 28, Hetmyer 20; Russell 3-16, Hosein 3-36) by 26 runs
Barbados Royals kept their unbeaten run intact as they made it six wins from six in Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) following victory over the Trinbago Knight Riders on Tuesday night.
The Royals won the toss and opted to field first and took full advantage of that decision with their spinners Rahkeem Cornwall and Mujeeb Ur Rahman causing havoc upfront.
Four wickets fell in the first seven overs and the Knight Riders struggled to get back into the game.
Nicholas Pooran put up a valiant fight with a battling half-century but the 132 they posted was short of a competitive total.
If there were any lingering doubts in the Royals' minds about chasing the total in front of a raucous Queens Park Oval, Kyle Mayers didn’t read the script. He hit a blistering 79 to stun the home crowd and lead the Royals to a comfortable win.
The Queens Park Oval was silenced inside the PowerPlay as the Royals took out the Knight Riders' top order.
Cornwall and the debuting Mujeeb Ur Rahman dismissed Tion Webster, Colin Munro and Tim Seifert in quick succession to leave Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard with a major rescue job on their hands.
When Pollard fell to Ur Rahman straight after the PowerPlay all looked lost for the Knight Riders but Pooran and Sunil Narine put together a fine rebuilding partnership to leave the home team well set at 100-4 with five overs to go.
However, when Obed McCoy bowled Pooran for a well-constructed 52 off 44 balls, that signalled the end of the Knight Riders' fight back. The remaining batters stuttered their way to a total of 132 which was not enough against the irresistible Barbados Royals.
If the Knight Riders were going to have a chance then a lot depended on taking wickets in the PowerPlay, Daryn Dupavillon provided the early joy clean bowling Cornwall for 1.
But that was to be as good as it got as the Hero CPL leading run scorer, Kyle Mayers, hit a stunning 79 from 35 balls to guide the Royals to the edge of victory.
Corbin Bosch and Quinton De Kock saw out the remaining runs with minimum fuss to ensure the Royals remain unbeaten.
Scores: Barbados Royals 136-2 (Mayers 79, Bosch 33*; Dupavillon 2-30) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 132 (Pooran 52, Narine 30; Ur Rahman 3-17, Cornwall 2-27) by 8 wickets
Jamaica Tallawahs captain Rovman Powell hailed a complete performance from the team in a 33-run win over the Trinbago Knight Riders on Saturday.
The win was the first for the Jamaica franchise against their Trinidad and Tobago opponents in 7 games, dating back to the 2017 season. For his part, Powell played a crucial role in snapping that streak, with a patient 67 from 49 deliveries and a crucial fourth-wicket partnership with Raymond Reifer, worth 90 to the Tallawahs in a total of 153 for 7.
With the ball, however, the Tallawahs also made runs exceptionally hard to come for the Knightriders led by Mohammad Amir’s 2 for 15 at 3.75 at an economy rate of 3.75. Powell was delighted by the team’s all-around effort, which restricted the Knight Riders to 119 for 8.
“In all three aspects of the game, the guys played well. We haven’t beaten Trinidad in a long time so we wanted to do that,” Powell said following the match.
“We came out of the Power Play a little bit shaky but we got stuck in and I think the guys bowled really well,” he added.
The Barbados Royals secured their third successive victory of the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season with a resounding win over Trinbago Knight Riders by 80 runs (DLS).
The Trinbago Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field, but a brilliant opening stand of 85 runs between Kyle Mayers and Quinton De Kock built the platform for Barbados Royals to score an imposing 194/4 after their 20 overs, with captain David Miller playing an exceptional innings, scoring 60 runs from just 36 balls.
In a chase that was affected by rain, Trinbago Knight Riders suffered a batting collapse, losing six wickets in the powerplay before rain brought a premature end to proceedings with the score at 51-7 after 8 overs, the Royals winning on DLS by 80 runs.
Barbados Royals got off to a sensational start, making their highest powerplay score so far of the season with 67 runs, Mayers scoring 45 of those. After losing the wickets of both openers, Miller continued the momentum with some big shots, frustrating the Knight Rider’s bowling attack, before a late batting cameo from Jason Holder took the side to 194/4.
Trinbago Knight Riders lost a flurry of wickets early in their chase, with Devon Thomas taking the big wickets of Tim Seifert and Knight Riders captain Kieron Pollard with his off-spin. Obed McCoy took the wicket of Nicholas Pooran with the last ball of the powerplay before Andre Russell lost his wicket in the following over. Heavy rain forced an early end to the match with eight overs bowled and the Knight Riders 51-7, with the Royals winning on DLS by 80 runs.
The win means Barbados Royals maintain their 100 per cent start to the tournament while Trinbago Knight Riders have suffered their first defeat of the season.
Scores: Barbados Royals 194/4 (Miller 60, Mayers 52; Narine 1/23, Russell 1/33) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 51/7 (Munro 12, Russell 9 ; Thomas 2/4, McCoy 2/11) by 80 runs (DLS).
A captain’s knock from Deandra Dottin and bowling brilliance from Anisa Mohammed steered the Trinbago Knight Riders to a 10-run victory over Barbados Royals to see them crowned champions of the inaugural Massy Women’s Caribbean Premier League (WCPL).
With her team put into bat, it was the Knight Riders’ captain Dottin who shone, scoring the maiden half-century in WCPL history and helping her team to a defendable first innings score of 100-7.
Hayley Matthews was the pick of the Royals’ bowlers taking three wickets in the 19th over to finish with 3/22 including the key wicket of Dottin.
In response, Aaliyah Alleyne and Britney Cooper went early in the chase, while Matthews dug in and looked to be the key to leading her team home. But wickets fell around her and, when she went for 46, the run-chase was all but done.
With just the tail to clean up, Knight Riders had the momentum and it was only fitting that Anisa Mohammed should take the final wicket and finish the game with 3-16 as her side cleaned up the Royals for 90.
With their male counterparts watching on and the eyes of the world on the game, it was a massive moment for the Trinbago Knight Riders and for women’s cricket after a ground-breaking tournament.
When the Knight Riders were put into bat, it wasn’t the explosive start they might have hoped and just as the boundaries began to flow, Kirby was dismissed cheaply.
Dottin and Sune Luus began to accelerate before Luus’ South African team-mate Chloe Tryon, who hadn’t yet bowled in the tournament, dismissed her national captain to put the Royals in the driver’s seat with the Knight Riders 43-2.
In true Deandra Dottin style, the World Boss was the lynchpin of the innings, playing shots to all parts and bringing up her half-century from just 54 balls.
Bragging rights went to her counterpart, Matthews who removed her for 59 off 62 in an over that also claimed the wickets of Kyshona Knight and Jannillea Glasgow.
The Royals’ openers came out of the traps flying, reaching 14 from the first two overs but when Alleyne fell for 7 and Cooper soon after without scoring and the chase looked more tricky.
When Tryon was stumped just as the rebuild was on, the game was in the balance and all hopes rode on Matthews with the Royals 36-3.
Wickets continued to tumble and the key moment came with 13 needed off 12 as Matthews couldn’t clear Glasgow at mid-wicket. She went for 46 leaving her team needing 12 from 10.
It was too much for the tail-enders facing the bowling of Anisa Mohammed, who cleaned up the tail sending Mandy Mangru’s bails flying.
The Knight Riders, who lost the final of the inaugural SKYEXCH 6IXTY against the Barbados Royals, now have their payback. It was a phenomenal team performance led brilliantly by the power-hitting and elite display of batting from Deandra Dottin and a fitting finale for an incredible inaugural Massy Women’s CPL.
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