St. Lucia Zouks defeated the defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders by six wickets in the opening match of Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2016 in Port of Spain on Wednesday. It was an all-round effort from Darrren Sammy & co. which helped them clinch their first victory of the fourth edition of CPL.
Sammy won the toss and asked the Knight Riders to bat first on a wicket that was a little difficult for the batsmen, even if the pitch got better as the game progressed.
Brendon McCullum could not impress with the bat on his CPL debut. Hashim Amla got a start, but he too could not continue for long as he was dismissed by Canadian all-rounder Nitish Kumar.
Skipper Dwayne Bravo (63 n.o. 44b, 2X4, 4X6) took control of things after he came out to bat. His quickfire half-century helped Trinbago Knight Riders to reach a decent total of162 for six.
Shane Watson (4-0-26-3) shone on his CPL debut with the ball. He was the pick of the bowlers for the Zouks. Kumar, Morne Morkel and Derone Davis picked up a wicket each as well.
Johnson Charles and Watson began the run chase in strong fashion. Charles kept on finding the boundaries, with Watson happy to rotate the strike. But the latter was dismissed by Bravo when the partnership was looking dangerous. Charles (52, 38b, 4X6,1X6) continued to play his shots and completed his half-century.
Later, David Miller and Sammy finished things off in style with five balls to spare. This victory will definitely boost Zouks' confidence ahead of their next match, as they defeated one of the best sides of CPL 2016 on Wednesday.
