The Trinbago Knight Riders put their might on display yet again as they outplayed St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots by 59 runs to secure their eighth successive win in the Hero CPL.
The Knight Riders rested their stars Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine but were still far too good for the Patriots. Their all-round display with the bat and the ball installed them as the favourites for the title.
Lendl Simmons finally found form though they lost Amir Jangoo, making his senior T20 debut, and Colin Munro retired hurt after being hit on the hand while playing a short one. The total was 29.
Then Knight Riders were carried through by Simmons (96) and Darren Bravo (36) as they put on 130 runs and Knight Riders made 174 for four.
Simmons was severe on all bowlers starting from Sheldon Cottrell and Alzarri Joseph with the new ball and later in the second half of the innings he carried on in the same vein against Rayad Emrit and Jon-Russ Jaggesar.
Yet credit was due to Jaggesar and Dominic Drakes who kept the Knight Riders boundary-less between the Powerplay and halfway drinks when they were 68 for one.
At one-point Joseph hit Darren Bravo in the head, but all was well. Bravo ended a 35-ball streak without a boundary with a pull for four. Simmons too broke free, pulling Emrit for another six, before bringing up 50 off 42 balls with a single. That set the stage for a dash as the Knight Riders were 125 for 1.
Darren Bravo also hit Drakes for six, bringing up the 100 partnership off just 66 balls. Simmons pulled another six and Bravo smashed a four through extra-cover, making the 16th over highly productive. Joseph started the 18th well but Simmons bludgeoned two sixes to get into the 90s and the team past 150.
Cottrell finally got Bravo in a good 19th over and Drakes got two wickets in two balls in 20th when Simmons, four short of a century, pulled to Cottrell and Tim Seifert’s edge was well caught by Lynn. Raza survived the hat-trick ball and stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo smashed a six off the last ball.
As Patriots began their chase, Akeal Hosein and Khary Pierre took the new ball for the Knight Riders. Pierre dismissed the dangerous Lewis caught by the 48-year-old Pravin Tambe for an athletic catch. Lynn and Joshua da Silva broke free off Pierre, each hitting a six with Da Silva also sweeping for four, but even an over of 18 only took the Patriots to 34 for one after six.
Then Tambe and Anderson Phillip tightened up further and at the halfway mark the Patriots needed almost 12 an over. Then Tambe bowled a maiden and at the end of his outstanding spell, Patriots were 67 for 2 off 13 and needed more than 15 an over. Tambe bowled four overs for 12 and took one wicket.
It became an uphill task for Patriots, as Knight Riders’ as Raza had figures of three for 8 runs. Patriots managed only 115 for seven and lost.
Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 174 for 4 (Simmons 96, DM Bravo 36; Drakes 2/35, Cottrell 1/32) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 115/7 (Lynn 34, da Silva 29; Raza 3/15, Tambe 1/12, Hosein 1/15, DJ Bravo 1/17) by 59 runs
Player of the match: Lendl Simmons (TKR)
Hero CPL Table
| Team | P | W | Loss | Pts | RR |
| Trinbago Knight Riders | 8 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1.01 |
| Guyana Amazon Warriors | 9 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 0.44 |
| St Lucia Zouks | 8 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 0.07 |
| Jamaica Tallawahs | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 0.12 |
| Barbados Tridents | 8 | 2 | 6 | 4 | -0.1 |
| St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots | 8 | 1 | 7 | 2 | -1.3 |
As on after matches on September 2, 2020.