Rahkeem Cornwall’s maiden century helped Barbados Royals (BR) to win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (SNP) by 8 wickets.
It is SNP 6th consecutive loss in the CPL. In his last match Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) showed full domination and GAW won the match by 98 runs. Whereas BR lost their last match, SNP by Charles and Joseph provided a clinical victory for their team.
Patriots skipper Sherfane Rutherford won the toss and elected to bat first.
For the first time in this CPL, the openers provided a solid 115 runs partnership for the 1st wicket. Andre Fletcher (56 runs) and Will Smeed (63 runs) looked good after the 1st over and targeted each bowler they faced. Fletcher hit 7 fours and a six while Smeed hit 5 fours and 4 sixes. It was also Smeed first 50 in the CPL.
In the end captain Rutherford showed the full rocket fire innings and scored 65 runs in just 27 balls. He hit 5 fours and 5 sixes. Due to his destructive batting in the death overs SNP were able to get 220 runs in 20 overs, with the loss of 4 wickets.
Qais Ahmed showed little braveness towards the ruthless batting performance shown by the patriot batters. As he spent only 23 runs in his 4 overs but didn’t get a wicket. Cornwall gets 2 wickets while Carlos Brathwaite gets 1 wicket.
Royals lost Kyle Mayers (22 runs) in the 4th over but after that the beast mode of Rahkeem Cornwall (102 runs) activated. He just hit the ball out of the ground very easily and also he hit a longest six of 111m. In his innings he hit 12 sixes and 4 fours. After completing his century he just drops his bat and returns to the pavilion.
Later Rovman Powell (49 runs) and Alick Athanaze (13 runs) gets the final blow of their victory. Powell also hits 5 fours and 3 sixes in his knock.
All the bowlers were brutally treated and most of them have an economy of above 10. Dominic Drakes and Corbin Bosch took 1 wicket each.
After winning this match BR reached 4th position in 7 matches having 7 points, while SNP is yet to win any match and is at the lowest position in the points table with 2 points.
Rahkeem Cornwall, BR, Player of the Match
“Today is my son’s birthday. I dedicate this knock to him. My two sons always back me. Pitch was really good and I backed myself. My first hundred. I back myself to get my team to a good start. Crowd keeps me going, so I want to give them something to cheer about. I haven’t gone past that I could go big. Thanks to my family for supporting me.”
Sherfane Rutherford, SNP Captain
“On a good wicket you don’t want to give chances to batters. Catches win matches. If Cornwall bats outside the powerplay he will score big runs. He took the game away from us. Full credit to him. We have a few days, just stay positive. Nothing is guaranteed. Anything is possible.”
Rovman Powell, BR Captain
“It was an excellent feeling. If we didn’t get off a good start it would have been a tough chase. They made it look like the target was 10-15 runs short. I expect this sort of an innings from Cornwall but the longevity of it wasn’t expected. I think the guys stick to plans with the ball.
When we set an on side field, runs went on the off side. That’s something we need to look at. Always room for options. As a captain you have to work with your instinct. One of the best days of Cornwall’s career. I am trying my best to carry the team.”