CPL 2017: Five talking points from the first week

It is been a week since the Caribbean Premier League started. As expected this cricket carnival of West Indies has produced some exciting cricket as well dramatic moments. Entertainment has been in abundance and the T20 superstars from across the world have delivered sterling performances.

The T20 bonanza started on August 4, and so far (as of 12 August) 10 matches have been played. These 10 T20 games witnessed quality cricket and interesting action and some games had a close finish as well.

Here we look at the five talking points from the first week of CPL that provided tremendous entertainment and have already made the tournament a success.

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#5. McCullum - Munro blitz sinks St. Lucia stars

After restricting the St. Lucia Stars to a paltry score of 132 for nine, the Trinbago Knight Riders lost their opener, Sunil Narine in the first over.

Speculations of the match turning into a low-scoring drama became thick as only one boundary was scored in the next two overs.

But in the fourth over, the dam was broken. Colin Munro hammered two boundaries, one over point and one through mid-off against Obed McCoy and on the final delivery of the over, Brenden Mccullum flicked the ball beyond square leg fence to make it a 18 run over.

In the next over, McCullum collared Rankheem Cornwall for a six over long-on and then slammed Mitchell McClenaghan for another six over square leg in the last over of the powerplay.

Munro also scored two more boundaries against McClenaghan and at the end of the six overs, the Riders had raced to 57 runs.

After that, there was no looking back to the New Zealand pair who ransacked the Stars' bowlers to tighten their grip on the game. In the next 4.4 overs, the pair slammed 80 runs.

The Riders belted off 21, 14, 18, 14 and 13 runs in 7th, 8th,9th, 10th and the 11th over respectively to produce a dominating victory and crushed the Stars by nine wickets and 56 balls to spare.

McCullum blasted 58 runs off 27 balls while Munro remained not out on 66 off 39 balls. The pair added 132 runs in less than 10 overs to kick start the tournament in style.

#4. Mohammad Sami's heroics overpower Pollard's assault

Sami was economical and effective against the Barbados Tridents

The Barbados Tridents did most things right in their match against Jamaica Tallawahs. They bowled accurately and tied down the Tallawahs' batsmen. In 20 overs, they leaked only 154 runs.

And then their skipper Kieron Pollard produced a demolishing counter-attack to keep their chase on track. But even then the Tridents failed to cross the line first, as Mohammad Sami stood in their way and derailed their chase.

Sami first sent back the struggling Dwayne Smith in the 11th over and one ball later accounted for the dangerous Nicholas Pooran. The short-ball rose quickly and hurried on to Pooran who was looking to pull the ball. He was out, however, for a golden duck and Sami pushed back the Tridents by picking up two wickets in three balls.

He then came back in the 19th over to stamp Tallawahs' victory. On the third ball of the penultimate over, he forced Wahab Riaz to offer a catch to point fielder on a short and wide delivery. Then came the decisive blow as he sent back Tridents' last hope, Pollard.

At the end, Tallawahs were 12 runs short of the target and the difference between the two teams was Sami - who finished the match with figures of four wickets for 12 runs in four overs.

#3.Shadab and Javon Searles keep calm to steer Riders home

Shadab Khan did well to consolidate for the Trinbago Knight Riders

A match that was dominated by the spinners was won by a patient batting display of Shadab Khan and Javon Searles. The duo kept calm and batted with maturity to steer their team home from a tricky situation.

On a pitch that was the best friend of the spinners, St. Lucia Stars managed to get only 118 runs in their 19 overs. The spin trio of Shadab Khan, Kharry Pierre, and Sunil Narine kept the lid on the Stars' batsmen and choked them throughout the 20 overs.

However, the target of below six runs per over was far from a cakewalk for the Trinbago Knight Riders who were torn apart by Shane Shillingford's spin bowling.

The power hitters from Riders kept on playing their strokes even on the unsupporting pitch and scored 52 runs in the powerplay. But in the process, they also lost wickets and before ten overs they were six down.

The required rate had come down but wickets were the cause of concern for the Riders and this was when Shadab Khan took the center-stage. He tagged with Javon Searles and batted with patience.

The pair scored their first boundary on the 27th ball of their partnership but kept the required run-rate under check by rotating the strike.

After 15 overs, Riders reached to 104 and needed 15 more runs to win. Searles who was silent till that point slammed McClenaghan for two back-to-back sixes on the first two balls of the 16th over and one ball later edged one four to the third man region to finish off the chase.

#2. Riders' royal mess of eight wickets in 38 runs

Williams picked three wickets to aid the batting collapse

In the match against Jamaica Tallawahs, the Trinbago Knight Riders were well-placed at two down for 109 after 9.5 overs.

A score of 200 was on the cards as Riders boosted a strong batting line-up and the danger man Monro was well-set. But suddenly, the batting team switched on the self-destruction mode and made a mess of their innings.

It was started with Krishmar Santokie sending back the set Monro on the last ball of the tenth over. In the next few overs, the middle order was wrecked courtesy of some quality and probing bowling from the Talawahs.

The Riders lost their next eight wickets for just 38 runs and even failed to complete their quota of 20 overs.

Tallawahs completed the chase in the 20th over, thanks to solid batting from their openers Kumar Sangakkara (47 runs) and Lendl Simmons (38 runs).

#1. Pollard demolishes St. Lucia Stars

Pollard was ruthless and flamboyant in his match

Kieron Pollard produced his second half-century of this year's CPL and demolished the St. Lucia Stars with his powerful hitting and authoritative strokes.

The Barbados Tridents got off to a solid start courtesy of their openers Dwyane Smith and Kane Williamson. Their opening partnership of 72 runs in 10 overs provided the perfect platform for Pollard and the Tridents' skipper didn't disappoint.

He started slowly and scored his first boundary on the 13th ball he faced. He slammed Shillingford for a six and a four on consecutive deliveries and in the next over, clobbered Kyle Mayers for a four on the leg side.

In the next four overs, Tridents milked 78 runs with Pollard scoring 57 of them in just 16 balls.

In the 17th over Shillingford was collared for two sixes and in the next over Taylor went for another six. The biggest over was the 20th, as Pollard slammed 28 runs. Taylor went for two sixes and two fours in the four while one over-throw gifted another boundary.

The carnage from Pollard (83 runs from 35 balls) was too much to handle for the Stars who scored only 129 runs in their response.