Afghanistan's experienced off-spinner Mohammad Nabi's five-fer (5/15) dismantled the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots' batting line-up as St Lucia Zouks pulled off their fourth win in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 in Trinidad this Thursday (August 27).
Nabi's outstanding four-over spell never allowed the Patriots to get going after losing the toss and being put in to bat. They made only 110/9 in 20 overs, with Ben Dunk (33) and tailender Alzarri Joseph (21*) somehow taking them past the 100-run mark.
WATCH – Pravin Tambe claims wicket in first over on CPL debut for Trinbago Knight Riders
Besides Nabi, left-arm wristspinner Zahir Khan (1/18) and off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall (1/14) also bowled well for Zouks.
In the second half, Cornwall (26) played yet another quickfire opening cameo before middle-order batters Roston Chase (27*) and Najibullah Zadran (33) saw their team through with more than five overs to spare.
Imran Khan (3/23) picked up three wickets and Jon-Russ Jaggesar (0/25), skipper Rayad Emrit (0/14) went economical. But Patriots never had enough runs to play with.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 110/9 in 20 overs (Ben Dunk 33, Alzarri Joseph 21*; Mohammad Nabi 5/15) lost to St Lucia Zouks 111/4 in 14.4 overs (Najibullah Zadran 33, Roston Chase 27*; Imran Khan 3/23) by six wickets
In the second game of the day, Trinbago Knight Riders beat Guyana Amazon Warriors on the back of a quality bowling performance.
Left-arm spinner Khary Pierre's 3/18 and restraint spell from Dwayne Bravo (1/23), skipper Kieron Pollard (1/15) combined well to put the breakers on Warriors batsmen, as they managed to reach only 112/7 in their allotted 20 overs with the bat.
Shimron Hetmyer (26), Ross Taylor (26) and Keemo Paul (28) made twenties but the rest of the batting line-up struggled against Knight Riders' tight bowling.
During the run-chase, openers Lendl Simmons (19), Tion Webster (27) got their team off to a decent start before Darren Bravo (26*) and wicketkeeper batsman Tim Seifert (39*) took Knight Riders home with still 10 balls left.
Leg-spinner Imran Tahir (2/25), skipper Chris Green (1/15) and Naveen-ul-Haq (0/19) bowled fine but lack of strong enough total meant their efforts were always bound to go in vain.
Guyana Amazon Warriors 112/7 in 20 overs (Keemo Paul 28*, Ross Taylor 26; Khary Pierre 3/18) lost to Trinbago Knight Riders 115/3 in 18.2 overs (Tim Seifert 39*, Tion Webster 27; Imran Tahir 2/25) by seven wickets
