CPL 2017, STS v SNP, Match 10, Review: Evin Lewis steals the show as Patriots sink the Lucia Stars

Match 10 of the 5th edition of the Caribbean Premier League saw the St Lucia Stars battle it out against the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots at St Lucia. The match saw Darren Sammy and his men end up on the losing side of yet another encounter and that too at home. The Lucia Stars find themselves toiling at the bottom of the table with absolutely zero points to their name from their 4 games.

On the other hand, the Nevis Patriots are yet to be defeated in the tournament. The Chris Gayle led side continued their stellar form in the tournament as they made it 3 wins from 3 games. The Nevis Patriots had some big names in their ranks in the form of the destructive Chris Gayle, Carlos Braithwaite, Evin Lewis, Pakistani duo Hasan Ali and the experienced Mohammad Hafeez.

Coming on to bat first, the Patriots saw a magnificent knock from opener Evin Lewis who scored 92 runs from 52 balls. The Lucia bowlers had no answer to the determined Lewis and his outstanding knock that consisted of 7 towering maximums and 5 boundaries. His inning set the tone for a mammoth total for the Patriots away from home. However, Chris Gayle fell cheaply for 12 runs as he was cleaned up b fiery West Indian pacer Jerome Taylor.

The middle order was significantly poor but Evin Lewis stood like a pillar at the crease waiting for someone to build a partnership. Lower order batsman Carlos Braithwaite whose immense power with the willow in hand is known to everyone, chipped in with 21 runs. Contributions also came from Afghanistan spinner Mohammad Nabi as he played a crucial knock of 24 runs remaining unbeaten until the end. At the end of the 20 overs, the Patriots total looked a hefty one with 196 runs on the board at the loss of 6 wickets. Jerome Taylor was the only bowler from the Lucia attack who managed to trouble the batsmen and picked up 3 under his belt.

The run chase:

The St Lucia stars never found themselves into the match and their batting performance gave us another example of that. Opener Andre Fletcher was the top scorer on the team with 48 runs, while the others failed to make their innings count. West Indies power hitter Marlon Samuels got a start but lost his wicket to Mohammad Hafeez shortly after entering the 20s. Shane Watson flopped again with the bat and his dismal form continues since the iconic 10th edition of the Indian Premier League. With age not on his side, Shane Watson’s career seems to be approaching a dead end.

However, small contributions came from Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall at the end of the innings, who played 20 and 23 run knocks respectively. But that was not enough to earn the Lucia Stars their first victory of the season. The Lucia stars ended their turn at 163 runs at the loss of 8 wickets in the 20 overs handing the Nevis Patriots a 33 run win.

Mohammad Hafeez bowled a brilliant spell of spin as he picked up 3 wickets from his four designated overs. He conceded only 22 runs in the process. Evin Lewis successfully bagged the Man of the Match award for his match winning knock. It has been a sensational start to the tournament by the Nevis Patriots who currently sit at the second position in the points table.

They are just behind the Trinbago Knight Riders on net run rate but they have one game in hand. A win in their next match will make it 4 out of 4 for skipper Chris Gayle and company allowing them to grab to pole position on the chart. Darren Sammy has plenty of work to do and only a miracle can turn the fortunes for him at the moment.

Brief scores:

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 196/6 (Evin Lewis 92, Mohammad Nabi 24, Jerome Taylor 3/46)

St Lucia Stars 163/8 (Andre Fletcher 48, Rahkeem Cornwall 23*, Mohammad Hafeez 3/22)