SKN Patriots kickstart 2024 CPL journey with victory over Antigua Falcons 

St Kitts and Nevis: St Kitts and Nevis Patriots kickstarted the 2024 Caribbean Premier League with a victory in its first match. The team defeated Antigua and Barbuda Falcons by one wicket in a nail-biting fight on Thursday night at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium.  

The match was started with an inning of Antigua and Barbuda Falcons and tried to score over 200 runs. However, the Patriots restricted them in tight bowling and received the target of 164 runs as Falcons played innings of 163 runs with the loss of 4 wickets.  

The youngest player, Jewel Andrew, who made debut on the field in the tournament, scored an unbeaten half-century and gave the Falcons a satisfied score to put on the board. He stroked 50 off 30 balls as he came on the field to defend the fifth wicket for his team.  

The second-best batsman for the team remained Opener Fakhan Zaman who made 43 off 32 deliveries and others including Fabian Allen made 24 off 17 deliveries, Kofi James made 22 off 24 deliveries.  

In the bowling, Anrich Nortje, Dominic Drakes, Arshmead Nedd and Tabraiz Shamsi picked the wickets for the Patriots.  

When SKN Patriots came to crease, they found difficulty in chasing the target due to the tight bowling of Falcons. With one wicket victory, the team managed to start their journey on a satisfying note.  

Most runs for the Patriots have come from the bat of Kyle Mayers who played an inning of 39 runs and contributed well to the chasing. The score of other batters including Evin Lewis made 29 runs, Odean Smith made 27 runs, and Andre Fletcher made 25 runs.  

However, in the final over the Patriots lost two wickets as they were only seven runs away from the victory. Due to this, the wicket loss of the team reaches nine in the first three deliveries and made it tough for both of them.  

With five needed off three bowls, Roshon Primus from Falcons bowled a wide before last pair Anrich Nortje and Tabraiz Shamsi. Both of them pulled their tea and got runs 1,2,1 off the final three balls.  

The much-anticipated Caribbean Premier League was kickstarted with the first match between Antigua and Barbuda Falcons and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Thursday and will run through October 6, 2024.  

The second match of the tournament was held between Antigua and Barbuda Falcons and Guyana Amazon Warriors at Antigua and Barbuda on Friday.  

Last year, the trophy was secured by Guyana Amazon Warriors in the finals of the tournament.