‘Saved the best for last’ – Trinbago celebrate CPL win

The job for him, and the rest of the batsmen, was made pretty straightforward by an excellent bowling performance led by Khary Pierre (3/29), which restricted Guyana to 147/9. After that, it was Brendon McCullum’s 39 and Munro’s 68* in just 39 balls that did the trick for Trinbago,the target overhauled in just 17.3 overs.

This was the sixth season of the CPL, and teams from Trinidad and Tobago have now won it thrice, first in the T&T Red Steel avatar in 2015, and then in 2017 and 2018 as Trinbago Knight Riders.

At the other end of the spectrum are Guyana, whose eight-wicket loss on Sunday, 16 September was their fourth in the final of the competition – they have now lost in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018, without winning it a single time.

For Trinbago, it was a job well done. Just two defeats in the early part of the tournament was followed by a loss to Guyana in Qualifier 1, but in the end, everything came together beautifully.

“A lot of teams came hard at us – they (Trinbago players) always had the talent, they have the hunger too. We lost a few games in the middle but saved our best for last,” said Simon Katich, the team coach.

“We have so many experienced players to be adaptable in the batting order. Fawad (Ahmed) has been a great wicket-taker and Ali Khan has done extremely well for us with the new ball and at the death. Really proud of these guys.”

The Player of the Match in the final was Pierre, but Munro set the chase alight towards the end with three sixes in one over from Rayad Emrit as he knocked off his sixth half-century of the tournament.

“Unbelievable! It was excellent to come out tonight and finish it off, despite a couple of losses in the back end of the tournament,” said Munro. “Thankfully I didn't have to leave it to anybody else, despite the firepower around me.

“The coaches and the management have backed me to go out there and play my natural game. Sometimes it doesn't come off, but they've trusted me through thick and thin. We were chasing a par score, but we managed to romp home in the end.”

Munro ended the tournament with 567 runs – on top and well ahead of second-placed Glenn Phillips of Jamaica Tallawahs, who had 457, on the scorers’ chart.

“My coach asked me to be consistent, and he said he wanted me to be at the top of the leaderboard,” said Munro – he certainly pulled that off.

Khan, meanwhile, has been one of the major success stories for Trinbago as well as the CPL 2018: A Pakistan-origin medium pacer from the USA, he took the new ball for Trinbago and picked up wickets early more often than not, ending with 16 wickets in 12 outings.

“Perfect start to the perfect final,” the 27-year-old said of hitting Cameron Delport’s stumps first ball. “It was expected of me and I'm glad I came and delivered. I'm getting a lot of love from the crowd, so it feels like I am home.”

Khan was outstanding, as were Dwayne Bravo (13 wickets) and Pierre (11 wickets), but the best of them was Ahmed, the Australian leg-spinner who finished atop the wicket-takers’ tree with 22 strikes.

“I'm really glad we finished the job. I have gained a lot of experience and I am glad that I could contribute to my team's success,” he said.