T&T cricket talents, opening batsman Lendl Simmons and medium pacer Ravi Rampaul were the top performers with bat and ball respectively in the recently concluded Limacol Caribbean Premier League. Representing Guyana Amazon Warriors, Simmons completed the tournament with 446 runs at an average of 49.55 and strike rate of 128.90. He outscored Barbados Tridents' Shoaib Malik (406, Ave: 50.75) and Jamaica Tallawahs' Chris Gayle (363, Ave: 40.33) to earn his spot at the top. Evin Lewis was T&T Red Steel's leading batsman with 321 runs in eight games at 40.12, finishing eighth.
Rampaul, whose performances guided the Tridents to the title, by the Duckworth-lewis method after three rain delays, collected 18 wickets in 10 games at 13.16 apiece (Econ: 6.77). Falling just behind him was the Warriors' Krishmar Santokie (17 wkts, Ave: 19.41, Econ: 7.61) while Jamaica's Rusty Theron was third with 14 (Ave: 24.50, Econ: 8.50).
Tallawahs' Andre Russell was the tournament's most destructive batsman with his 219 runs coming at a strike rate of 200.91. St Lucia Zouks' Sohail Tanvir (189 runs, SR: 181.73) and Tridents' Jason Holder (108 run, SR: 166.15) also caused headaches for the bowlers while T&T's Nicholas Pooran (107 runs, SR: 150.70) was fourth among batsmen with over 100 runs.
Gayle and Simmons shared the record for most sixes with 24 each followed by Dwayne Smith (20), Evin Lewis (19) and Marlon Samuels (18).
Two familiar names led the bowlers in terms of economy rates with Red Steel's Samuel Badree (4.41) and Warriors' Sunil Narine (4.50) sharing the top two positions. They were followed by fellow spinners Mohammed Hafeez of the Amazon Warriors (5.60) and the Tallawah's Daniel Vettori (5.65) and Nikita Miller (5.83). Antigua Hawkbills' Sheldon Cottrel (5.90) was the most economical quick bowler.
Simmons won an exclusive piece of land in Beaumont Park, St. Kitts worth over US$400,000 when he was named Man of the Tournament following the final. He also tied with Jamaica Tallawahs' Chris Gayle for the competition's most sixes with 24.
Despite his efforts, he could not prevent his team from going down to Barbados Tridents by eight runs in the championship match. It was thev second straight year that Simons' team lost in the final. In 2013 the Jamaica Talawahs defeated them for the championship.
The Tridents batted first and set a target of 153 to win thanks to half centuries from Dwayne Smith and Shoaib Malik. A tight finish was in prospect, but a third interruption for rain meant that it was impossible to play the game to a conclusion. When the final rain delay came, the Tridents were eight runs ahead on the Duckworth-Lewis calculations and were declared this year's champions.
cpl honours:
Most Runs
Player Mat Inn NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50
LMP Simmons (Guy) 11 11 2 446 97 49.55 128.90 0 4
Shoaib Malik (Bar) 10 10 2 406 81no 50.75 129.71 0 4
CH Gayle (Jam) 11 11 2 363 111no 40.33 122.22 1 2
MJ Guptill (Guy) 11 10 3 358 90 51.14 126.05 0 5
DR Smith (Bar) 10 10 2 353 110no 44.12 133.71 2 1
MN Samuels (Ant) 9 9 2 332 106no 47.42 139.49 1 2
E Lewis (T&T) 8 8 0 321 77 40.12 127.88 0 3
CAK Walton (Jam) 11 11 1 266 53 26.60 112.71 0 1
Most Wickets
Player M I O M R W BBI A E SR 4 5
R Rampaul (Bar) 10 10 35.0 0 237 18 4/15 13.16 6.77 11.6 3 0
K Santokie (Guy) 11 11 43.2 0 330 17 4/11 19.41 7.61 15.2 1 0
J Theron (Jam) 11 11 40.2 0 343 14 4/35 24.50 8.50 17.2 1 0
RR Emrit (Bar) 10 10 31.5 0 256 12 3/23 21.33 8.04 15.9 0 0
KK Cooper (T&T) 10 10 39.2 1 270 12 3/26 22.50 6.86 19.6 0 0
S Badree (T&T) 9 9 34.0 2 150 11 3/13 13.63 4.41 18.5 0 0
AD Russell (Jam) 11 10 29.0 0 251 11 2/16 22.81 8.65 15.8 0 0
JE Taylor (Jam) 11 11 40.3 0 330 11 4/18 30.00 8.14 22.0 1 0
Key: M=Matches, I=Innings, O=Overs, M=Maidens, R= Runs, W=Wickets, BBI=Best Bowling in Innings, A=Average, E= Economy, SR=Strike Rate, 4=Four-wicket Innings, 5=Five-wicket Innings.