CPL: St Lucia Zouks stun defending champions Trinbago in the season opener 1

Riding on Johnson Charles’s 38-ball 52, St Lucia Zouks stunned the defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders in the season  opener of Caribbean Premier League.

With the conditions not favouring the bowlers, Zouks’ bowlers did a commendable job by restricting Trinbago Knight Riders to 162 in the 20 overs. Australian all-rounder Shane Watson was the best bowler for the Zouks, claiming three wickets for twenty-six runs in his four overs.
Earlier, the defending champions made a poor start as their power-packed top order comprising of Brendon McCullum, Hashim Amla, and Colin Munro – were dismissed with only 58 runs on the board. A 66 runs partnership between Darren Bravo and Umar Akmal steadied the ship for the Knight Riders. The partnership was broken  when Akmal mistimed a Watson bouncer to offer an easy caught-and-bowled chance.

Trinbago Knight Riders’ batsman Darren Bravo launched an assault in the last two overs of the innings to help the defending champions post a respectable total.  Bravo hit Morne Morkel for a four and a six in the 19th, before hitting consecutive sixes off Watson to close out the innings on a high.

Chasing 163 to win, West Indies opener Johnson Charles and Shane Watson got the Zouks off to a strong start as they put on a partnership of 47 in just 35 balls. Hitting six fours and a six, Johnson scored 52. His innings came to an end when he reverse swept Sunil Narine and was brilliantly caught by Brendon McCullum. By that stage, though, Zouks had raced to 93 for the loss of two wickets. The dismissal of Andre Fletcher soon after gave the defending champions some hope but it was thwarted  by 43 runs stand between Mike Hussey and David Miller. The Zouks eventually won the game with five balls to spare.

Enjoy the highlights: