9.30 pm I'm out of adjectives to describe the Patriots chase tonight. Their bowlers, led by Carlos Brathwaite's four wickets, did really well to restrict Tridents to 128. But it was a certain Patriots opener who absolutely blew the home team away. Evin Lewis smashed 11 sixes and six fours in 32 balls to smash 97 and take his team to second place. Barbados Tridents could not finish the tournament on the high they were looking for, but that simply sums up their season. It's been an amazing league stage and from now we begin our countdown to the play-off stage. Join us for the tournament's final three matches over the next week. For now, It's Sreshth and Akshay signing off. We hope you enjoyed ESPNcricinfo's coverage of the 30th match. Bye bye Bridgetown!
Winning captain Chris Gayle says: "It was a great view to watch Evin bat. We wanted to be positive, despite the low target. I gave Evin the strike, and he capitalised. I'm happy to sit back and let him take the charge. It's not a problem for me, in fact better for the team. We are at stage three now. Stage two was two finish in the top two. Trinidad (their opponents at the first qualifier) are a good team and we are looking forward for Tuesday. There's a lot of talent in the Caribbean actually. Most of these youngsters could not showcase their talent cause they're on the bench. Still a lot of talent in the Caribbean here. We missed Hasan (Ali) but Brandon King has stepped up too."
Losing captain Kieron Pollard said: That ending sums up our campaign. We didn't field well, we didn't bowl well and when it came down to it, we didn't bat well. Given the great players we have, it's a bitter pill to swallow. Need a couple of days to assess what went wrong. The guys did not step up. We have a lot of young guys who we expected much from. They will learn. All said, there have been some positives too. The boys will transpire on what happened this past month and I will introspect too. We'll come next year and try to do a lot better."
9.19 pm No surprises there. Evin Lewis is the Man of the Match. He says: "We didn't plan any assault. Looked to push on after getting the start. It hurts (on missing out on the hundred), but hitting 97 not out off 33 balls? I'll take that any day. I've been hitting the ball long and hard in the nets. Confident now and looking forward to the playoffs." Lewis' 11 sixes also equalled the record for most sixes in one innings of the CPL.
The Patriots innings, that went at over 18 runs an over, is the highest innings run-rate in the history of T20 cricket.
Rob Cotty: "very poor sportsmanship from Pollard." -- I can't imagine the sinking feeling Lewis must've felt when that was called a no ball. Irrespective, no one can take away the fact that this innings was a masterpiece. Take a bow, young man.
Patriots needed 129 to win today. And Lewis is on 97*. How did we even get here?
