Kevon Cooper excelled with both the bat and ball to help the Trinbago Knight Riders win the CPL
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
Kevon Cooper starred with both the bat and ball to lead the Trinbago Knight Riders to Caribbean Premier League (CPL) glory on Sunday.
Cooper took two wickets and smashed an unbeaten 29 as his side defeated the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by three wickets to be crowned champions for the second time in the tournament’s history. They also lifted the trophy back in 2015 when they were called the Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel.
In their last meeting, which came in the first qualifier, the Patriots had triumphed by 38 runs and subsequently qualified for the final.
The Knight Riders, meanwhile, set up a rematch with the Patriots after taking down the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the second qualifier.
Opting to bowl first, the Knight Riders made a huge breakthrough on the seventh ball of the match as Javon Scantlebury-Searles dismissed Patriots captain Chris Gayle for just one run.
Chris Gayle gone for 1 #CPLfinal #SKPvTKR #Biggestpartyinsport pic.twitter.com/epv8lcdGrO
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 10, 2017
He then proceeded to remove Mohammad Hafeez before Evin Lewis and Brandon King were sent packing by Sunil Narine and Cooper for 16 and 19 respectively.
Jonathan Carter and Carlos Brathwaite gave the Patriots a much-needed boost with a 49-run partnership before Carter was clean bowled by Ronsford Beaton for 21.
Brathwaite went on to make 30, while Mohammad Nabi scored an unbeaten 18 as the Patriots finished on 135/6 off their 20 overs.
Scantlebury-Searles and Cooper picked up two wickets apiece, while Narine and Beaton chipped in with one wicket each.
King Wicket #CPLfinal #SKPvTKR #Biggestpartyinsport pic.twitter.com/x0taSxZQqi
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 10, 2017
Thomas wicket #CPLfinal #SKPvTKR #Biggestpartyinsport pic.twitter.com/UCREUkubuG
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 10, 2017
Chasing 136 to win, the Knight Riders found themselves in trouble early on as opener Sunil Narine and captain Dwayne Bravo were sent packing by Sheldon Cottrell in the space of three balls.
Colin Munro and Hamza Tariq began to rebuild the innings when disaster struck as Munro was taken out by Mohammad Hafeez for 29.
Even though Darren Bravo, Tariq, Dan Christian and Scantlebury-Searles fell shortly after, Cooper and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin led the Knight Riders to victory with an unbeaten 46-run partnership.
Cooper six #CPLfinal #SKPvTKR #Biggestpartyinsport pic.twitter.com/xYpJBYS2ah
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 10, 2017
Cooper ended up making 29 off 14 balls, which included two boundaries and two sixes, while Ramdin remained undefeated on 26.
Cottrell, Hafeez and Tabraiz Shamsi claimed two wickets each.