Chris Gayle struck three boundaries and three sixes during his unbeaten knock of 54
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
The St Kitts and Nevis Patriots booked their spot in the final of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) after taking down the Trinbago Knight Riders by 38 runs.
Patriots captain Chris Gayle stole the show as he scored a composed 54 to lead his side to victory.
The Knight Riders will now take on the the winner of the eliminator, which will be between the Guyana Amazon Warriors and Jamaica Tallawahs, in the second qualifier.
Coming into their qualifier, the Knight Riders won eight of their 10 group stage games and finished at the top of the points table. As for the Patriots, they were in second place with six wins.
In their last group stage matches, the Knight Riders lost to the Barbados Tridents, while the Patriots had an all too different result against the same opposition.
Opting to bowl first, the Knight Riders took out Patriots opener Evin Lewis early on as he was dismissed by Ronsford Beaton for six runs.
Lewis out sensational catch from Dan Christian #TKRvSKP #roadtothefinal hashtags for tonight pic.twitter.com/spK2zQx81x
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 6, 2017
Mohammad Hafeez made a quickfire 21 before he was caught behind off the bowling of Kevon Cooper, while Brandon King smashed a 26-ball 30 before falling to Knight Riders skipper Dwayne Bravo.
Bravo proceeded to remove Carlos Brathwaite, Mohammad Nabi and Devon Thomas in quick succession, but Gayle’s unbeaten 54, which came off 51 balls and included three boundaries and three sixes, helped the Patriots finish on 149/7 off their 20 overs.
Gayle six #TKRvSKNP #roadtothefinal pic.twitter.com/3iru7c9mUk
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 6, 2017
Bravo was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Beaton snapped up two and Cooper chipped in with one.
Chasing 150 to win, the Knight Riders struggled right from the get-go as they were reduced to 6/3 at the end of the third over.
Munro out #TKRvSKNP #roadtothefinal pic.twitter.com/tGasSkTBeD
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 6, 2017
Just as they began to rebuild their innings, the Knight Riders were dealt another blow as wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin was sent packing by Brathwaite for 19.
Even though Darren and Dwayne Bravo scored 29 and 24 respectively, it was not enough to get their side across the finish line as they were bowled out for 111.
Sheldon Cottrell was the most successful bowler with three wickets, while Brathwaite, Hafeez, Gayle, Tabraiz Shamsi and Ben Hilfenhaus claimed one wicket each.