The 2021 Caribbean Premier League, the ninth edition of ‘the greatest party in sports”
ended with one of the most exciting finals in the Tournament’s nine-year history. The
St Kitts Patriots securing a thrilling three wickets win over the St Lucia Kings from the
very last ball of the match.
Set 160 to win in 20 overs, after the Kings batting first had posted 159/7 (20 Ovrs), the
Patriots reached their coveted target, scoring 160/7 thanks to the final over and last ball
heroics of Dominic Drakes. Still needing three to win off the very last ball, Drakes smashed
a four to secure victory to the delight of his teammates who all rushed onto the field to
embrace him.
The Patriot’s title win, the very first in
the franchise’s history was also much
welcomed by the home crowd fans of the St
Kitts-Nevis twin-island Caribbean state. As
a result of the continuing COVID related
restrictions, CPL 2021 was again hosted
by a single Caribbean country. Whereas
Trinidad’s Queen’s Park Oval and Brian
Lara Stadium had served as dual venues
for the preceding years’ 2020 Tournament,
St Kitts’ Warner Park was the only ground
used for all 33 matches in this years’ 2021
competition!
Drake’s final match last over heroics was
among several outstanding individual
performances, during the August 26
– September 15, twenty-one days
tournament. Among the batsmen, Royston
Chase’s 446 runs from 12 innings batted
placed him at the very top of the standings
as the Tournament’s leading run-scorer.
His outstanding batting also earned him
a much-deserved inclusion to the West
Indies squad for the forthcoming 2021 ICC
T20 World Cup to be played in the UAE
from October 17 – November 13.
Chase was closely followed by Evin Lewis
his West Indies team-mate and fellow
T20 World Cup selectee. Lewis’ 426 runs
from 10 innings, including one century,
placed him second in the rankings for the
tournament’s top run-scorers.
Among the bowlers, Trinidad & Tobago
Knight Riders’ Ravi Rampaul was the
tournament’s highest wicket-taker with
19 wickets. He was very closely followed by the Guyana Amazon Warriors’ duo of Odean Smith and Romario Shepherd who both took 18 wickets each. Dominic Drakes finished
fourth in the standings with 16 wickets.
While the aforementioned can rightfully now be included among the 2021 CPL’s “winners,” on the flip side of that coin there were also some decided “losers!” From a franchise team perspective, the Barbados Royals, with its newly acquired India-based owners, had yet another disappointing tournament. The Jason Holder led Royals managed to secure only a mere three wins from its ten
Preliminary Round matches played. The direct result of which was the Royals’ occupation of the cellular position in the points standings at the end of the Preliminary Rounds and its failure yet again to advance to the playoffs.
From an individual player perspective, at least two of the competition’s previously heralded stalwarts may have now seen their tournament careers effectively concluded as a result of their below par CPL 2021 performances. The former West Indies T20 opening batsman Johnston Charles, playing for the Barbados Royals, managed only 210 runs from ten innings batted for a highly disappointing average of 21.60. Now aged 32 and set to be a year older by the time next year’s tournament bowls off, Charles could well find him pressed to secure a spot within any of the participating franchise squads for CPL 2022! Much the same can be said for Charles’
fellow former West Indies T20 teammate,
Keswick Williams as the hapless St Lucia
Kings’ bowler that fell victim to Dominic
Drakes last ball tournament victory
producing heroics. Williams took 11
wickets in 6 matches to finish third
among the Kings’ highest wicket-takers,
behind Jeavor Royal’s 12
and David Wiese’s 11 respectively.
His economy rate was a relatively
high 8.39, however, and as a now
31-year old who will be turning 32
this coming January months before
next year’s tournament, he could
very well like Charles, find himself
out of a franchise spot on account
of his advancing age.
Some seasoned T20 campaigners
such as Charles, Williams and
Barbados ‘Ashley Nurse may have
indeed now had their reputations
terminally tarnished by their
respective 2021 CPL performances.
At the directly opposite end of the
spectrum, however, youngsters
such as Dominic Drakes, Akheal
Hosein, Jeavor Royal among others
would have had their career prospects
fundamentally enhanced as a result
of their performances in this year’s
Tournament.
The 2022 ICC T20 World Cup is scheduled to
held in Australia, next November-December.
As such, next year’s CPL tenth anniversary
edition will now hold even greater significance
as an opportunity for players to stake their claims
for inclusion to the West Indies’ World Cup squad.
As exciting as 2021 may have been CPL 2022 could
therefore well be even more so.
CPL 2021 Outstanding And Exciting!
