The Caribbean Premier League has got off to a blistering start in its first week. It has had everything that makes T20 cricket special – batsmen smashing the ball all over the park, terrific spells of bowling, great fielding, close finishes, it’s fair to say that it has fans all over the globe enthralled. Arguably, in its biggest season yet, the CPL is set to capture the imagination of fans in the coming weeks, loaded with a star cast and even playing 6 games in the USA, everything seems to be working well for the league.
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The first week has seen 8 matches held at two venues – The Warner Park, home of the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriorts and the Queen’s Park Oval, home of the Trinbago Knight Riders. Both the sides haven’t got off to the best of starts however, with the Patriots occupying 3rd place in the table and the Knight Riders occupying 5th place after having played 4 games each. The Jamaica Tallawahs and the Guyana Amazon Warriors are at the top of the table with two wins each.
As the league moves on to Guyana and Barbados for its next phase, we take a look back at the 5 top performers of the first week:
1) Chris Gayle, Jamaica Tallawahs
The Jamaica Tallawahs captain has got his team off to an incredible start, leading them to 2 wins in their first two encounters. He laid the platform with a half century in Jamaica’s first game against the Patriots as he helped his side post a challenging 153 on the board. He rotated his bowlers well as they put in a fighting performance to restrict the Patriots to 148 and claim a memorable 5 run win.
The second game completely belonged to the big man. Playing the defending champions, the Trinbago Knight Riders in their home ground, Chris Gayle scored his 18th T20 century (Yes, you read that right) to power his team home. Chasing 192 and against a formidable bowling attack, Chris Gayle got off to a tentative start, playing a run-a-ball 17 before absolutely tearing into the bowling, ending with 108 runs off 54 balls and remaining unbeaten to take his team home.
2) Sohail Tanvir, Guyana Amazon Warriors
The Pakistani left arm quick has always been a threat with his ability to pick up wickets. He has had a terrific start to the season as he has helped the Martin Guptilll-led Guyana Amazon Warriors to 2 wins in their first two games. In the first match, against the Patriots, he was all over the batsmen like a rash, picking him 4 wickets for 20 runs. He dismissed Lendl Simmons early, before coming back into the attack to claim the wickets of Thisara Perera, Devon Thomas and Carlos Brathwaite to restrict them to 164, a score which was chased down by the Warriors batsmen.
The second game had a similar story, as Tanvir claimed the wicket of Brendon McCullum on the very first ball. This was the second match in a row he had dismissed the opposition’s opener for a duck. He would come back into the attack and claim his compatriot, Umar Akmal’s wicket before he could get going to restrict them to 162. The Warriors chased this down on the back of a special innings from Chris Lynn.
3) Hashim Amla, Trinbago Knight Riders
Sitting pretty on top of the list of run scorers is South African run machine Hashim Amla. Amla played a few games for the Kings XI Punjab in the recently concluded IPL and impressed immediately. He has carried on his impressive run in the CPL. He is at the top with 187 runs from his 4 matches, at a strike-rate of 137.
His two fifties have come against the Barbados Tridents and the Jamaica Tallawahs. His 81 against the Tridents was crucial in helping his team get to 170, a total the Tridents would struggle to chase down. Against the Tallawahs, he was a man on a mission, scoring 74 as his team went on to post 191. He took compatriot Dale Steyn for two mammoth sixes in the penultimate over of the game.
4) Sunil Narine, Trinbago Knight Riders
Sunil Narine is one of the most effective bowlers in the shortest format of the game. He is undoubtedly one of the biggest match-winners there are around, as he generally concedes less than 6 runs per over. He has had a terrific start, continuing his good form from the tri-series recently.
He picked up a brace in the first two matches that the TKR went on to win, he followed that up with a wicket in each of the final two games he played. Remarkably, in the match against the Tallawahs, where his team conceded 192 runs, he bowled 4 overs for 9 runs!
5) Shoaib Malik, Barbados Tridents
The second Pakistani to feature on the list, Malik has played a solid all round role that has helped the Barbados Tridents pick up a win from their first two encounters. In the first game, against the Trinbago Knight Riders, he picked up the wicket of Hashim Amla in the one over he bowled. Coming in to bat at #3, he scored 28 runs before losing his wicket.
He was exceptional in the next game, however, as the Tridents picked up a win over the Patriots. He picked up a wicket and bowled his full quota of 4 overs, before scoring a half century opening the innings and laying the perfect platform for his team to chase down 166.
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