Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Bravo was all smiles as his side progressed to the semi-finals
West Indies Twenty20 and Test captain Darren Sammy was absolutely gutted after his side, the St Lucia Zouks, were knocked out of the inaugural edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) by the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel.
Opening batsman Andre Fletcher was the only player who performed well for St Lucia as he scored an unbeaten 46.
Trinidad and Tobago captain Dwayne Bravo won the toss and elected to bowl first.
His decision looked to pay off as the Zouks found themselves in deep trouble throughout their innings, especially when four of their top batsmen were back in the pavilion with only 56 runs on the board in the 13th over.
In the end, the Zouks could only amass 99 runs at the end of their 20 overs, with nearly half of them coming from Fletcher, who remained undefeated on 46 off 59 balls, which included two boundaries and a six.
Sammy chipped in towards the end as well, smashing 16 runs off 20 deliveries, which included three boundaries.
Samuel Badree caused the most damage with two wickets, while Bravo, Fidel Edwards and Kevon Cooper all snapped up one wicket apiece.
Chasing exactly 100 runs to win, the Red Steel could not have gotten off to a better start as their opening pair of Kevin O’Brien and Adrian Barath scored more than half the runs needed with a 56-run partnership before O’Brien was clean bowled by pace bowler Tino Best for 37 off 33 balls, which included three boundaries and two maximums.
O’Brien’s dismissal started a disturbing trend as Barath, Mahela Jayawardene and Ross Taylor all fell in quick succession.
However, once again, the Bravo brothers came to rescue as they ensured the Zouks did not pull off an upset.
Darren Bravo was unbeaten on 15 off 14 balls, which included two boundaries, while Dwayne Bravo remained undefeated on 10 off nine deliveries, which included one six, as the Red Steel were able to reach their target with just two overs to spare.
Garey Mathurin was the pick of St Lucia’s bowlers with two wickets, while Best and Shane Shillingford both chipped in with one wicket each.