Defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders began the 2021 Caribbean Premier League with a nine-run defeat against Guyana Amazon Warriors in Match 1 of the competition, in St Kitts. They restricted Guyana to 142/7, but only managed to post 133/9 in reply.
Brandon King (10) and Chandrapaul Hemraj (13) gave Guyana a steady start after Kieron Pollard won the toss and asked them to bat. Sunil Narine (2-17) came to the attack in the fourth over and got the wicket of Hemraj immediately. Akeal Hosein (2-17) removed King right after the Powerplay as Guyana were 43/2 in 6.1 overs.
Odean Smith (24) looked ominous during his 15-ball stay but Narine returned in the eighth over to send him back to the dressing room. Shoaib Malik (2) and Mohammad Hafeez (8) did not last long either as Guyana were left reeling at 88/5 in 15 overs.
Shimron Hetmyer took charge right from there. Nicholas Pooran (12) failed to provide the support Hetmyer needed, but Hetmyer shared a 38-run stand with Romario Shepherd (9*) before being dismissed for 54 (in 41 balls) by Jayden Seales (1-31) on the final ball of the innings. Guyana added 54 from the final five overs, losing two wickets.
Coming to the chase, Trinbago lost Lendl Simmons (5) early, to Romario Shepherd (3-1-15-3). Sunil Narine (20) and Colin Munro (17) tried to score runs quickly in identical, familiar fashion, but both were trapped leg before by the veteran Guyana spinners, Imran Tahir (2-12) and Hafeez.
Tim Seifert (23) lacked rhythm before Smith (2-10) ended his struggling 29-ball stay. Tahir pinned Darren Bravo (3) leg before to make the chase more difficult for Trinbago. The contest completely went in Guyana’s favour when Pollard lost his wicket, to Shepherd in the 14th over. Trinbago were 86/6 at this point.
Denesh Ramdin (28) struggled to get his timing right as well. Hosein (22* in 12 balls) played a breezy cameo, but it came all too late.
Brief scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 142/7 in 20 overs (Hetmyer 54; Narine 2-17) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 133/9 in 20 overs (Ramdin 28; Shepherd 3-15) by 9 runs. Player of the Match: Odean Smith.