CPL 2020: Sunil Narine's All Round Show Powers Trinbago Knight Riders To Win In Tournament-Opener

Sunil Narine starred with both bat and ball as Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) by four wickets to start their Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 in style.

The game started on a damp note as rain forced the officials to reduce it to 17 overs per side contest. Trinbago Knight Riders skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and decided to bowl first. His decision turned out to be right as last year’s CPL top scorer, Brandon King departed for a duck.

Chandrapaul Hemraj could not last long either as he managed just three. But before things could get really worse, Shimron Hetmyer steadied the ship. The left-handed batsman mixed caution with aggression, scoring 63 not out off 44 balls to guide his team to a respectable total of 144 for 5.

He started building the innings in the company of New Zealand veteran Ross Taylor. While both relied mainly on singles and doubles, Taylor did play the odd shots through the course of their 50-run partnership, which included a four and a six off consecutive deliveries off Jayden Seales in the eighth over.

The Warriors are on the charge here with Hero Maximums from Hetmyer,Taylor and Pooran. #CPL20 #CricketPlayedLouder #TKRvGAW pic.twitter.com/bzdLA6bWA0

— CPL T20 (@CPL) August 18, 2020

Taylor scored 33 before becoming Narine’s second victim of the night. But with Hetmyer in the middle, the Warriors’ innings remained on track as they scored at a healthy rate to finish with a competitive total.

The chase:

The Amazon Warriors started magnificently with the ball with Naveen-ul-Haq, Chris Green and Romario Shepherd combining to keep Trinbago Knight Riders’ openers Narine and Lendl Simmons to just 9 off the first 3 overs. Simmons broke the shackles in the fourth over when he hit Green for two back-to-back fours.

However, he was sent back by Naveen in the very next over. The Pollard-led side finally started getting the rhythm after the powerplay with Narine and Munro hitting Green for a six each in the sixth over. In the following over, Munro hit a four and a six off Shepherd before the bowler dismissed the Kiwi for 17 to put the Knight Riders on the backfoot.

Not one but two UNBELIVABLE catches from Brandon King. This one gets the play of the day. #CPL20 #CricketPlayedLouder #TKRvGAW pic.twitter.com/7Ukss1qS1S

— CPL T20 (@CPL) August 18, 2020

Narine soon found his rhythm and hit Imran Tahir for a four and a six in the ninth over to take the Knight Riders into the drinks break at 81/2 needing 64 off the last 48 balls. And in the very first over after the restart, he hit two back-to-back sixes off Shepherd to bring the required run rate down to just seven an over. The left-hander brought up his 50 off a remarkable 27 balls before being dismissed by Tahir.

There was some late drama in the end when Pollard, Tim Seifert and Darren Bravo departed in quick succession by Dwayne Bravo remained till the end to take his side home.

Brief scores:

Trinbago Knight Riders: 147/6 (Narine 50, Darren Bravo 30, Munro 17; Naveen 2/21, Tahir 2/40) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 144/5 (Hetmyer 63*, Taylor 33, Pooran 18, Paul 15*; Narine 2/19) by four wickets