Trinbago Knight Riders (KKR) defeated the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the finals of the 2017 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) to claim the title before a 15,000-strong partisan crowd at the newly opened Brian Lara Cricket Academy in South Trinidad on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2017.
It was a nail-biting finish as the Knight Riders were batting 90 for 7 wickets with just the tail-enders to bat, chasing a modest total of 136 for victory. The Knight Riders struggled badly and needed 33 from the last three overs with Kevon Cooper and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin in the wicket.
Cooper hit a whirlwind 29 from 14 balls including two fours and two sixes to swing the match in the Knight Riders way.
Australian fast bowler Ben Hilfenahus was struck for 22 runs in the 19th over including two wides and a no-ball. KKR won the match with three wickets and an over to spare.
Earlier Bravo won the toss and opted to send the Patriots in to bat first and they were in control for the first over when prolific opener Gayle was caught for one run.
It was hyped as the best ever CPL with stars such as Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Sunil Narine.
After the match, Gayle, captain of the Patriots, lamented his team’s failure in their first-ever finals saying they had a foot in at one stage but couldn’t get pass the line
He however, thanked his players for a tremendous season over the past six weeks over several Caribbean islands and hopes they can build on their showing in the future.
