CPL 2024: Performances of Andrew and Springer falls short against Patriots

In the opening match of the Caribbean Premier League 2024, the teams of Antigua and Barbuda Falcons and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots came face to face. The collaborative performance of the Patriots managed to score the victory in a high-intensity match.

The first match of the twelfth edition of the CPL was hosted at the venue of Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua and Barbuda. In the match, the eye-catching performances of Jewel Andrew and Shamar Springer failed to ensure the victory and ended on the defeated side.

The CPL 2024 was inaugurated with the opening toss, which faced in favor of Captain Andre Fletcher from Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots. As a decision, Captain Chris Green of Antigua and Barbuda Falcons was invited to initiate the venture this year by batting first on the home ground.

The opening match was started by the openers, Teddy Bishop, along with Fakhar Zaman, for the Falcons. The first wicket was collected by Anrich Nortje at the very early stage of the match as Teddy Bishop. Bishop lost his wicket at the team’s total of 7 runs while facing the last ball of the second over.

Teddy Bishop managed to score just 1 runs in 3 balls and was the only field batsman for the Falcons on the day. The other batsman scored a decent run while the inning was built on the shoulders of Jewel Andrew on the third dawn in the middle and death overs.

Fakhar Zaman was the send wicket of the match, who got caught by Evin Lewis on the ball of Tabraiz Shamsi on the team’s total of 67 runs. Fakhar laid the stable ground for Antigua and Barbuda Falcons in the early overs. He scored 43 runs with the help of 2 sixes and 5 fours in 32 balls.

After the dismissal of Kofi James, Jewel Andrew entered the ground in the eleventh over of the inning and team’s total of 80 runs. Andrew played 30 balls in his inning and scored 50 runs without losing his wicket.

With the help of 7 boundaries and 1 six at a strike rate of 166.67, he became the first batsman to score a half-century in CPL 2024. With the help of fifty by Jewel Andrew, Antigua and Barbuda Falcons finished their inning with a total of 163 runs after losing 4 wickets in 20 overs.

To chase the target of 164 runs in 120 balls, Evin Lewis came to bat for Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots along with Captain Andre Fletcher. After a strong start, Captain Andre lost his wicket on the ball of Imad Wasim, when the team was at a score of 37 runs in 4.4 overs.

Fletcher scored 25 runs in 26 balls with the help of 1 six and 4 boundaries. The batting of the Patriots was disturbed by Shamar Springer with his bowling attack. Springer took four wickets at the crucial moments of the match, which helped to build pressure on the chasing team.

Shamar Springer delivered 4 overs, in which he gave 29 runs at an economy rate of 7.25 to collect 4 wickets. The 4 batsmen departed by Springer were: Evin Lewis at 29 runs in 24 balls, Tristan Stubbs at 2 runs in 7 balls, Odean Smith at 27 runs in 19 balls, and Rilee Rossow for a golden duck.

Captain Chris Green used seven bowlers from Antigua and Barbuda Falcons to defend a total of 163 runs. Among those seven, four were able to add wickets with their names. The Falcons managed to dismiss 9 batsmen of the chasing team.

However, the team of Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots crossed the required mark and chased the total by scoring the 164th run on the last ball of the game. The match concluded in favor of the Patriots by 1 wicket after a close face-off.

As the efforts of Jewel Andrew in batting and Shamar Springer in bowling failed to collect the winning points in the CPL 2024 opening, Kyle Mayers was named as the Man of the Match. Kyle Mayers scored 39 runs off 24 balls for the Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots.