TKR create history with successful title defence

Hero Caribbean Premier League 2018…

Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) defeated Guyana Amazon Warriors by eight wickets in a historic match, to become the first side to win back-to-back Caribbean Premier League (CPL) titles on Sunday night at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad.
The day belonged to the Knight Riders on the verge to their third CPL championship, win with victory from the toss. They gave the Warriors first strike and limited them to 147-9 from their 20 overs then charged to 150-2 with 2.3 overs to spare.
Of course, the leading run scorer showed up to the party in a big way, smashing and unbeaten 68 which pushed the Trinidadians over the line.
The top order didn’t fail last night, stepping up to the plate for the grand finale and putting their best foot forward in the circumstance.
Denesh Ramdin (24) and Brendon McCullum (39) set the pace with a watchful opening partnership of 52 before the latter held out to Cameron Delport after hitting five boundaries and two maximums in the 24 deliveries faced.
Ramdin was the next to fall when he found himself too far back in the crease and hit his wicket trying to score off Romario Shepherd. TKR were then, 87-2.
Munro with his record aggregate of 567, returned to his usual dominant ways but Darren Bravo missed out on the action when he retired hurt for 4. Colin Ingram settled in alongside Munro and watched the fireworks from the other end.
It was Munro’s sixth half century of the tournament, crafted off just 39 balls which included six boundaries and three sixes. He was later adjudged the Player-of-the-Tournament.
The Warriors captain Chris Green and Shepherd accounted for the two TKR wickets that fell.
Earlier in the night, backed by a boisterous crowd since stepping foot on the field, TKR got things rolling from the first ball as Ali Khan clean bowled Cameron Delport, no doubt sending a shock through the Warriors’ batting line up.
Khary Pierre was excellent with the ball as he finished with 3 – 29 and was supported by the skipper Dwayne Bravo who bagged 2 – 30, while Khan, Fawad Ahmed and Sunril Narine removed one batsman each.
Luke Ronchi tried valiantly to revive Guyana after his opening partner was removed for a golden duck, with a top score of 44 for his side. He slapped six fours and a maximum before he met his demise.
Shimron Hetmyer looked good for his 15 but became another wicket for Ahmed as Warriors moved onto 52-2. Ronchi was the next wicket to fall with the score on 79, then Chadwick Walton (1) ended his miserable season at the hands of Pierre, two runs later.
Jason Mohammed (24) and Sherfane Rutherdford (12) were not too effective with the bat either as wickets kept falling at regular intervals. Green (5) and Sohail Tanvir (3) were removed early as well, but some fight did come from the lower order.
Shepherd made 10 while Rayad Emrit was left not out on 14 along with Imran Tahir who had eight.