The Caribbean Premier League (CPL or CPLT20) is an annual Twenty20 cricket tournament held in the Caribbean islands. It is the successor to the Caribbean Twenty20 held in 2013 and has seen the participation of 6 teams. Fixtures of the league are well thought of and has thus significantly increased the interest level of cricket fans, with each match having its own importance. It is a month long tournament and semifinals and finals are still to follow.
Barbados Tridents, Guyana Amazon Warriors, Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel and Jamaica Tallawahs are the teams that made it to the top 4, with Tridents topping the table, hence automatically securing a place in the final. The final will be played on August 16th at Basseterre.
Kieron Pollard whacked 63 off just 36 balls in the Tridents’ final group game to beat the Jamaica Tallawahs by 88 runs, putting them in the final. Shoaib Malik and D.R. Smith were the stand out players for the Tridents in the group stage, scoring 351 and 294 runs respectively. The team will expect to carry on their phenomenal form in the all important final.
The other teams that played well but were short of making a place in the top 4 were St Lucia Zouks and the Antigua Hawksbills, finishing fifth and sixth respectively.
The league is by no means over. Two semifinals still to go scheduled respectively on 13th and 14th August. The first semifinal being played between Tallawahs and Red Steel promises to be a killer contest. The winner of the match will then compete with the Amazons for a place in the finals. All four teams being in spectacular form have a fair chance of winning the league and hence qualifying for the Champions League T20, Tridents and Amazons being the favorites.
From green pitches and beautiful weather to some skilful cricket, everything has been going right for the league this year. Extra ordinary batting by the likes of Shoaib Malik, Chris Gayle, M.N. Samuels and impressive bowling performances by Ravi Rampal and K. Santokie contributed immensely to make this event a huge success. Centuries by Gayle, Smith and Samuels have been some of the major highlights of the league and have set the bar high . The league silently showing its magic amid the ongoing test matches. Hence, the upcoming matches promise to take this event to new heights of entertainment and class.