Dominic Drakes recorded his highest ever score in cricket to take the Patriots over the line in dramatic fashion with a single off the last ball.
Follow Us
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots have now won their maiden edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), following a triumph against St Lucia Kings in the final by a margin of three wickets. Dominic Drakes was the hero for the franchise, smashing 48 runs off 24 deliveries, after being handed a target of 160 runs to see the team through. Drakes took initiative on a day when Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis failed to make their presence felt, helping the Patriots clinch a sensational win. The clash went down to the last delivery as Drakes and Naseem Shah held their nerves to scamper a tight single when it mattered the most.
Dwayne Bravo was elated after leading the franchise on to a league triumph.
“I want to commend my team without whom this would not have been possible. This is for the fans, they have come out in numbers and they are our 12th man. Belief. And giving people opportunity, backing people to perform. The first session I had with Drakes I told him you are not an emerging player, you are one of my main players and this is your tournament. Naming Lewis as the vice-captain gave him the responsibility. I came here to see if I can do something different and have managed to achieve it. This one will be special as it is a new franchise, out of my comfort zone, coming here and not knowing what to expect, it should be in the top three. I know what it means for some of the guys who have been here from the start,” he said as quoted by Cricbuzz.
“I always wanted to play together with the Universe Boss in the CPL and here we are winning the trophy together. We kept believing even after losing wickets, we took the game deep and that’s the reason we went on to win. It was a great team effort. Credit to Simon (Helmot) as well, it is our second trophy together and I love playing for him. This was a very good tournament, you didn’t know who would be in the top four till the final league game and even the final it went down the wire. People will expect more from the CPL next year,” added Bravo.
The St Lucia Kings did not enjoy the heroics of Tim David and David Wiese as was the case in the semi-final against Trinbago Knight Riders, with the majority of the batsmen barring Rahkeem Cornwall and Roston Chase surrendering their wickets meekly. However, Keemo Paul ensured some firepower down the order, smashing five huge sixes in an innings of 39 runs from 21 deliveries. Fawad Ahmed and Naseem Shah were the pick of the bowlers, accounting for two dismissals apiece.
“It is a bit hurtful. The guys played well and I cannot fault them. We fought well and right to the end. Drakes played really well and won them the game. The execution I believe, that 19th over if we could have tucked up Drakes and left few more for the final over. For me it is never over till the fat lady sings, the two words I used today was stay calm and humility. We stayed calm till the end and we were humble. Unfortunate that we couldn’t cross the hurdle. I was very confident of defending in the final over, that shot Drakes hit was a good shot and Williams didn’t do much wrong there. I know they are disappointed, but we have to keep the faith. Ever since CPL started we were struggling, we had come to be known as the punching bag, and though we didn’t win this year, we will be back,” said Fletcher.
Rishabh Pant's explosive last-over blitz ignites IPL 2024 amid T20 World Cup comeback talks
