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Spotlight on: St Kitts & Nevis Patriots!

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By Author CPL

In the first of a six-part series, we review how each of the franchises fared in the ‘Biggest Party in Sport’ during 2015, picking out some of the best moments and players from the season.

First up, we take a look at the competition’s newest franchise the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots…

Key stats

Played 10 W 4 L 6
Table: 6th
Top run-scorer: Marlon Samuels (325 runs @ 40.62)
Top wicket-taker: Tabriz Shamsi (11 wickets @ 13.27)

Season overview

It was always going to be a tall order for the Patriots in their first season in the CPL, playing against more experienced teams in the competition. However St Kitts and Nevis were the surprise of the tournament, winning over many new fans with an exciting brand of cricket and remained competitive throughout the tournament falling, just short of the play-offs in Trinidad.

While not always producing consistent performances, the Patriots smashed the second highest total (199/5 against the Tallawahs) and scored the most runs of all the franchises in the group stage. Ultimately their lack of experience may have told but, in all, the Patriots were a welcome addition to the competition. 

Best moment

Entering the tournament the biggest question surrounding the competition’s newest franchise was when the team would claim their first victory and those fears were only heightened as the Zouks romped to a comfortable 7-wicket victory in the Patriots first CPL match.

Three days later, the Patriots responded in grand style winning a thrilling contest at the Kensington Oval against defending champions Barbados Tridents by a single run. Defending 143, the match boiled down to the final delivery with Orlando Peters holding his nerve against Kieron Pollard, with the Tridents skipper being run out attempting to scamper a second run to send the game to a Super Over.

The sight of Devon Thomas breaking the stumps and Peters wheeling away in celebration will be a memory that will stay with fans for a very long time to come!

Season MVP

Marlon Samuels. Simply the best batsmen to wear a Patriots jersey in 2015, the captain of the franchise blazed 325 tournament runs at a strike rate of 130, including four half-centuries. His leadership of a young team must also be praised with the team falling just short of the play-offs in their first season.

The name we will be hearing more about…

Tabraiz Shamsi. While there were encouraging performances from other young players, such as Carlos Brathwaite and Evin Lewis, the 25-year-old Shamsi burst on to the CPL stage, taking 11 wickets at a measly average of 13.27. A fun-loving character who celebrated every wicket in his own unique style, his left-arm chinamen deliveries caused even the most accomplished of batsmen problems. Twice taking four wickets in an innings, the South African surpassed the high expectations Marlon Samuels and the franchise placed on him when he was surprisingly selected in February’s draft.

Biggest disappointment

In a season that was full of positives for the Patriots, perhaps the one disappointment will be the performances of Sohail Tanvir. While the Pakistani all-rounder worked tirelessly throughout the tournament, he failed to hit top form, particularly with the bat. Known for his late order explosiveness, the left-hander failed to adapt to the slow Caribbean surfaces, scoring just 46 runs at a strike of rate 95.

What they said

"We were exceptional. We’ve beaten some really good sides and we were competitive in every single game. We’ve scored more runs per over than any other team scored in the tournament. We’ve been really consistent and I think we’ve unearthed some really good cricketers" - Patriots coach Eric Simons

Hopes for 2016

The Patriots will be looking to build on everything they achieved in 2015 and will aim to achieve a play-off berth at the second time of asking. The franchise will continue to build around the younger members of the squad (Brathwaite, Lewis, Shamsi and Jomel Worrican) and they should prove to be even better with a year’s CPL experience under their belt. The main target will be to become more consistent with their performances to allow them to take the next step forward.

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Spotlight on: St Kitts & Nevis Patriots! CPL T20

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