The rhythmic music, the blaring sounds, dancing audience and action packed cricket, all packed into one complete package which is the Caribbean Premier League will kick-start tomorrow (Thursday in India).
Many players have often compared the Indian Premier League with the Caribbean Premier League and have expressed their delight at taking part in the fun. Cricket has always been accorded great status in the West Indies and to many the CPL has restored some of the pride and have given West Indies recognition the world over.
In the midst of the glitz and glamour, there is some serious cricketing business and the six participating franchises fight it out tooth and nail out in the centre. We take a look at 5 such memorable performances over the past 3 seasons of the CPL.
#1 Chris Gayle- 111(63) against St Lucia Zouks
The Jamaica Tallawahs' skipper Chris Gayle was on in full aplomb against the timid bowling attack of St Lucia Zouks in the 2014 season.
Gayle sauntered in sporting sunglasses under his helmet chasing as Jamaica attempted to chase down a target of 162. True to his attire, Gayle was in a flamboyant mode right from the outset as he smoked five fours and 10 sixes in his innings which lasted 63 balls.
After blitzing his way to a century, Gayle made sure that he carried his bat and saw his team through. Also, this was his first century in the CPL and was adjudged the player of the match for his efforts.
#2 Sunil Narine- Wicket Maiden against Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel
This match will go down in history as arguably the finest one to have been played as it involved a maiden wicket over in the super-over.
Trinidad and Tobago set a target of 119 runs for the Guyana Warriors and should have won the game, but few mistakes in the field allowed the match to slip into a super over.
Guyana scored 10 runs in that over and Trinidad needed 11 to walk away with the match. And then, Sunil Narine took centre stage and not only defended 11 runs, but bowled a wicket maiden! Nicolas Pooran was the batsman and he could not lay bat on ball and eventually fell in the fifth ball. Ross Taylor too was beaten in the final ball, and Narine scripted a memorable victory.
#3 Krishmar Santokie- 4/11 against St Lucia Zouks
This was one of the few matches in the 2014 season when the bowlers won the match for their team. Amazon Warriors made light work of St Lucia Zouks as they brushed them aside by 9 wickets.
Krishmar Santokie, was the pick of the bowlers as he picked a wicket in each of his 4 overs and eventually finished with 4 wickets for just 11 runs. This bowling effort thwarted the Zouks' challenge and they were restricted to just 117 runs in the allotted 20 overs.
Understandably, Santokie was declared the man of the match. He was a consistent performer throughout the tournament and was also included in the National team.
#4 Shakib al Hasan- 6/6 against Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel
This was one a kind match in CPL history. Barbados Tridents bowled out Trinidad and Tobago for 52 in 12.5 overs.
And then while chasing they lost 6 wickets, but got to the target in 8 overs.
The architect of the Barbados bowling performance was Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib al Hasan ran through the Red Steel batting line up and picked up wickets 5-10 in his four overs. He eventually finished with 6 runs for 6 wickets in his spell.
In the 10th over of the match, Shakib bowled a triple-wicket maiden. To add sheen to his performance, he contributed in the other dismissals too as he took two catches of the Red Steel's openers.
#5 Dwayne Smith- 110* vs St Lucia Zouks
It was one of the most disappointing seasons for the Darren Sammy-led St Lucia Zouks as they were at the receiving end of another master class, this time by Dwayne Smith.
Smith, blitzed an unbeaten and stole the show at the century by Dwayne Smith lit up the Kensington Oval, and helped Barbados Tridents win the match by 29 runs.
In his 69-ball innings, Smith bulldozed his way and smoked 7 fours and 8 sixes. He got able assistance from Shoaib Malik and the duo put on a partnership of 110-runs which helped the Tridents put up a huge score of 186 runs.
Zouks never got going and were restricted to 157/4 in their 20 overs. Smith was declared the man of the match for his sterling display.
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