Rutherford credits Patriots’ management and captaincy for his stellar performance in Hero CPL

…grateful to Guyanese fans for support

By Timothy Jaikarran

At conclusion of the Hero CPL 2021, the Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots were crowned champions of the Hero CPL, their having defeated the Saint Lucia Kings in a thrilling last-over affair.
Son of the soil, Guyana’s very own Sherfane Rutherford, was part of the winning franchise, as he played his part in their capture of the title that had eluded them for some time.
Rutherford was given a new role in the Patriots, being promoted to number 5, where he showed many that not only is he an aggressive batsman, but he can play himself in and score those vital runs at crunch time. He played a total of 11 matches and scored 262 runs at an average of 37.42, all while doing it with a strike rate of 127.18.
He scored three half centuries in total, and registered a high score of 58*. At the end of the competition, Rutherford was ranked 7th on the batting charts among a total of 50 players. He was also ranked number 7 with the greatest number of sixes in the tournament, blasting 18 towering maximums and proving his athletic ability in the tournament by bagging 11 catches, the most in the tournament.
In an exclusive interview with this publication, he was asked how it feels to win the title representing the Patriots for the first year, and Rutherford responded as follows: “First, I want to thank God for the opportunity, and this win for me is one that I will cherish for a long time, and it’s one of the happiest times for me, given the fact that I moved to a new team where I didn’t know what the outcome will be. But the guys definitely put their hands up, and as a team, we came through strong together.
“My performance this year is the best since I started playing CPL, and it’s one that I will sure look to learn a lot from, moving forward.”
The talented left-hander also noted that, for him, his next step is the Indian Premiere League (IPL), where he will be representing the Sunrisers Hyderabad, and thus he is looking forward to working with his new team, and also rubbing elbows with the likes of international players such as David Warner and Kane Williamson, among others.
Rutherford went on to credit the Patriots’ management and captaincy for his performance, stating that, in his opinion, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots is one of the best franchises in the tournament.
“It is one that made me feel at home. A lot of freedom was given to me as well, and I guess that helped my performance. Also, a special thanks to DJ Bravo, Chris Gayle and Rayad Emrit, who helped me along; and to the other locals and overseas players.”
Rutherford’s parting words to this publication were: “To my Guyanese fans, I just want to say, ‘Keep support me, I appreciate all of you guys and also the messages’.”