Munroe’s unbeaten half century spurs TKR to back to back titles

Sep 17, 2018 Sports

Colin Munroe struck an unbeaten half century to lead the Trinbago Knight Riders to an eight-wicket victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors when the teams collided in the Hero Caribbean Premier League final last night.

Trinbago Knight Riders Captain Dwayne Bravo lifts the trophy along with T&T Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley following the Hero Caribbean Premier League Final against the Guyana Amazon Warriors at Brian Lara Stadium last night. Photo by Ashley Allen – CPL T20/Getty Images

The Amazon Warriors were off to a bad start when Cameron Delport (00) was bowled off the first ball of the innings by Ali Khan after they were inserted at the Brian Lara Stadium in South Trinidad.
Shimron Hetmyer and Luke Ronchi added 52 for the second wicket to steady the innings somewhat. Hetmyer smashed Fawad Ahmed for a maximum but was caught at slip off the very next delivery for 15.
Ronchi struck six fours and one six before he was caught off Player of the Match Khary Pierre for 44 off 35 balls; Pierre then removed Chadwick Walton (01) leaving the Amazon Warriors in trouble at 81-4 in the 11th over.
Sherfane Rutherford smashed Sunil Narine for a maximum over mid-wicket before he was undone by a brilliant return catch by the consistent Pierre; he departed for 12. Jason Mohammed kept the scorecard ticking, but then the Warriors lost Sohail Tanvir who attempted a wild swipe at Narine and was caught for three before Mohammed was removed by Dwayne Bravo after hitting three fours in scoring 24 off 23 balls.
Skipper Chris Green fell to Bravo before Rayad Emrit and Romario Shepherd added 25 for the ninth wicket to prop up the total. However Shepherd was run out for 10 attempting a sharpe single before Emrit and Imran Tahir saw the Amazon Warriors to 147-9.
Emrit remained unbeaten on 14 and Tahir on eight. Pierre was the pick of the bowlers with 3-29 while Bravo had 2-32. Brendon Mc Cullum took boundaries off Tanvir and Green and along with Denesh Ramdin who was promoted up the order, got the Knight Riders reply off to a fine start as they raced to 23 in three overs.
Shepherd was introduced and could have handed the Amazon Warriors the break through, but Emrit floored the offer off Ramdin at square leg before Mc Cullum smashed him for consecutive sixes as the Knight Riders galloped to 49 without loss in six overs.
Green finally provided the Amazon Warriors with the breakthrough when he had Mc Cullum who hit five fours and two sixes, caught for 39 off 29 balls with the score on 52. A heavy downpour then sent the players off the field with the score on 65 in the ninth over and play was delayed for 125 minutes.
Following the resumption, Colin Munroe and Ramdin continued to inch their team closer to their target as they added 35 for the second wicket before Ramdin was dismissed hit wicket off the bowling of Shepherd for 24 off 30 balls.
Munroe, who was later named the Hero Player of the Tournament for his record 576 runs, the most by any player in CPL, played some decent drives through the off-side and together with Darren Bravo brought up their team hundred in the 12th over before Bravo retired hurt for four.
Munroe continued to accumulate his runs and hit Emrit for a four and smashed him for consecutive sixes to bring the rate down to 14 from 22. Munroe then smashed him for another six to bring up his fifty before he was put down on the mid-wicket boundary off the very next ball. Munroe cut Tanvir to the point boundary to seal Knight Riders’ victory as they finished on 150-2 in 17.3 overs.
The left-handed Munroe ended unbeaten on 68 off 39 balls with six fours and three sixes while Colin Ingram made seven not out. Green and Shepherd took one wicket each.