It came down to 18 runs required from the last two overs-18 runs from 12 balls.
The penultimate over was bowled by Jason Mohammed. He proceeded to bowl wrist spinners.
First ball up, was slammed to extra cover by Terrence Ward, but straight to the fielder—dot ball.
Second ball, he has a wild swing and is beaten through to the wicketkeeper.
Third ball- he comes down the track and gets a hold of it …but holes out at long off. Well taken by Skipper Carlos Brathwaite—literally on the ropes.
Fourth ball. Adelvin Phillip, who had crossed, goes inside out, over extra cover and it’s Carlos Brathwaite again, with a sliding effort on the long off boundary. Skipper Adelvin Phillip is gone!
Now it’s the fifth ball, with Javani Tyson in strike… big swing and a miss—through to the wicketkeeper.
Final delivery, Tyson comes down the track—hits it well but straight to Brathwaite at long off and they get a single. Great over by Jason Mohammed. Two wickets and conceding just a single run.
Final over to be bowled by Kjorn Ottley. He too is bowling wrist spinners and all of 17 runs required from 6 balls.
The crowd is now on edge. Tension is cutting like a knife. The fat lady has paused by the bar….
First ball up, Tyson swings hard and misses. A groan from the home crowd.
Second ball-slog sweep-four-one bounce into the midwicket boundary. The POM POM girls are dancing again—13 runs from 4 balls.
Third ball-off the edge-well saved by Evin Lewis at short third man—12 for 3.
Kezron Archibald in strike. Fourth ball. He goes deep into his crease, swings big and mistimes. The ball remains by his boot. Another groan from the home fans-12 from 2 required and 11 to tie.
Fifth ball. Archibald goes deep into his crease again and swings mightily. The ball seems to stay in the air forever. The man on the long on boundary seems to be under it—-and it falls just over his head for six. Huge roar from the home fans. Six runs required from the final ball. What a game!
Final ball—Archibald smashes it through the offside. It races to the extra cover boundary. It’s a lovely four—but just not enough. The Premier’s X1 falls short by a mere one run and the St. Kitts-Nevis Patriots prevail.
Earlier, the St. Kitts-Nevis Patriots arrived at the ET Willet Park, to engage the Premier’s X1 (a combined team of St. Kitts and Nevis players), in a now annual warm up game, prior to their CPL engagements.
They were officially met by Minister of Sports Hon. Eric Evelyn and Deputy Premier, Hon. Alexis Jeffers.
Carlos Brathwaite won the toss and elected to bat first. There was an opening flurry by Elvin Lewis, but after he perished, the batting struggled, especially against the spin of Terrance Ward, Jason Campbell and Elvin Berridge.
Skipper Carlos Brathwaite top scored with 45, as his team got to a competitive 127 for 7 in their allotted 20 overs.
The Premier’s X1 lost early wickets and also struggled to get the ball off the square, until Skipper Adelvin Phillip, teamed up with Terrence Ward and both players batted enterprisingly, until they both perished in the same over.
The youngsters, in Javani Tyson and Kezron Archibald, gave it their all at the death, but just failed to clinch what would have been a remarkable win.
Summarized scores: SKN Patriots 127 for 7 in 20 overs:
Carlos Brathwaite 45;
Kenron Cottoy 18;
Rayad Emrit 17;
Elvin Lewis 16;
Dominic Drakes 13*
Elvin Berridge 2 for 9;
Quinton Boatswain 2 for 28;
Jason Campbell; Terrance Ward and Nelson Boland 1 wicket each.
Premier’s X1 126 for 6 in 20 overs:
Adelvin Phillip 39;
Terrance Ward 29;
Mikyle Louis 24
Jason Mohammed 2 for 1;
Alzarri Joseph 2 for 19;
Akeem Jordan and Dominic Drakes 1 wicket each
SKN Patriots won by 1 run