Bravo: Put the blame on me

CAPTAIN of the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) Dwayne Bravo, took full responsibility for his team's bowling performance, after TKR conceded over 200 runs in a 42-run loss to the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the 2018 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at the Queen's Park Oval in St Clair, on Saturday night. It was the second time in two days the Knight Riders bowlers were pummelled for over 200 runs after Jamaica Tallawahs captain Andre Russell blazed them on his way to scoring the fastest ever CPL hundred.

Bravo took one wicket yesterday but leaked more than 17 runs per over as the Patriots batsmen struck the medium pacer for 52 runs in three overs in posting 203 for seven. In reply, TKR scored 161/8 in 20 overs. The bowling effort by Bravo followed a disappointing showing on Friday against Jamaica Tallawahs when he went wicket-less in conceding 60 runs from four overs. Combining those two matches, Bravo has figures of 1/112 from seven overs.

His only good showing came in a 100-run win in the opening match of the tournament, when he had figures of 3-0-11-3 against St Lucia Stars.

After the loss to Patriots, Bravo said, "I take full responsibility for my team's performance especially with the ball. I put my hand up and like I said in the briefing, I am going to bounce back as an individual and I am going to lead my team to better games."

Bravo said TKR would not make much changes to the starting XI as he is backing his team to bounce back after losing two of their first three matches. "We are not going to make any changes, we are not going to shuffle and change, I am going to back my team. As I said, I take full responsibility for the poor bowling performance. I put my hand up, it is my opportunity now to bounce back and lead the team."

Asked how damaging it is to lose back-to-back games at home, Bravo said, "It is not damaging, it is a cricket game. Not because you play at home you're guaranteed to win. The team who plays better on the day deserves to win which St Kitts and Tallawahs did. You have to give credit to those teams. In this format, there is nothing like home advantage, it is who plays better; it is a T20 game and all teams have good players and they showed their class tonight."

Bravo got TKR off to the perfect start with a brilliant one-handed catch to dismiss Tom Cooper for one off medium pacer Ali Khan's bowling. Evin Lewis also fell in the first over as the Patriots were 3/2 after one over. A 66-run third wicket partnership between Chris Gayle and Devon Thomas guided Patriots to 69/2 in the ninth over, before Gayle fell for 35 off 30 balls which included one four and three sixes. Another useful partnership between Anton Devcich and Thomas took the score to 108, but the pair fell in quick succession as the Patriots were reduced to 120/5 in the 14th over. Devcich scored 15 and Thomas cracked 58 off 34 balls with nine fours and one six.

However, Carlos Brathwaite then took charge of the Patriots innings, belting 41 off 15 deliveries with one four and five sixes to push Patriots to 203 for seven. Ben Cutting also boosted the team's total, scoring an unbeaten 25 off 18 balls. The top bowlers for TKR were Khan (4-0-23-3) and spinner Sunil Narine (4-0-24-2).

In reply, after Narine fell for four, Chris Lynn and Colin Munro put on 27 runs for the second wicket. However, when Lynn fell for six, wickets fell regularly and the innings never had any momentum. Munro looked fluent as usual, scoring 35 off 17 balls and Darren Bravo stroked 41, but scoring was difficult for the left-hander as his knock came off 38 balls. Kevon Cooper entertained the crowd with an unbeaten 42 off 22 deliveries which comprised two fours and four sixes, but he could only get TKR to 161/8. Fast bowler Brathwaite ended as the Patriots top bowler, taking 2/19 in four overs.

TKR will play St Lucia Stars next at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia on Thursday at 8 pm.

SCOREBOARD

TKR vs Patriots

Patriots inns

C Gayle c Khan b Cooper*35

E Lewis c Narine b Khan*0

T Cooper c DJ Bravo b Khan*1

D Thomas b Narine*58

A Devcich lbw b DJ Bravo*15

Mahmudullah b Narine*16

B Cutting not out*25

C Brathwaite c Narine b Khan*41

J Louis not out*0

Did Not Bat: S Lamichhane, S Cottrell

EXTRAS (B1, LB1, W6, NB4)*12

TOTAL: (7 wickets, 20 overs)*203

Fall of Wickets: 1; 3; 69; 108; 120; 141; 201

BOWLING: Khan 4-0-23-3, Gabriel 2-0-29-0, Narine 4-0-24-2, Cooper 4-0-47-1, Dwayne Bravo 3-0-52-1, Ahmed 3-0-26-0

Knight Riders inns

C Lynn b Lamichhane*6

S Narine c Devcich b Cottrell*4

C Munro c Lewis b Brathwaite*35

B McCullum c Louis b Cutting*0

Darren Bravo c Cutting b Louis*41

D Ramdin c Gayle b Louis*6

Dwayne Bravo c Cottrell b Cutting*10

K Cooper not out*42

A Khan c Devcich b Brathwaite*2

F Ahmed not out*5

Did Not Bat: Gabriel

EXTRAS: (LB1, W8, NB1)*10

TOTAL: (8 wickets, 20 overs)*161

Fall of Wickets: 5; 32; 34; 56; 71; 95; 115

BOWLING: Cottrell 4-0-34-1, Brathwaite 4-1-19-2, Lamichhane 3-1-17-1, Cutting 4-0-43-2, Mahmudullah 1-0-5-0, Louis 4-0-42-2

Man of the Match: Carlos Brathwaite

Result: Patriots won by 42 runs