CPL week one: Bravo's Patriots outplayed, Powell's class act, Hosein's injury scare
Fletcher's statement, Royals fielding five overseas players, and all the highlights from the week gone by
Rovman Powell's Jamaica Tallawahs notched up two wins in as many games • CPL T20/Getty Images
Rovman Powell's Jamaica Tallawahs and David Miller's new-look Barbados Royals have dashed out of the blocks, notching up two wins in as many games.
Not many would have predicted that Patriots would end their home leg without a single win. Dwayne Bravo's men were outplayed in their first two matches before rain washed out their next two. Patriots dropped at least eight chances across their first two games and were put to shame by Bosch alone. With Fabian Allen moving to Tallawahs, Wanindu Hasaranga being unavailable because of Sri Lanka duties and Evin Lewis missing their second game, Patriots didn't look as strong as they were last season. Dewald Brevis and Duan Jansen, twin brother of Marco, were both part of the Mumbai Indians contingent that had recently travelled to the UK, but they are yet to fire for Patriots.
With West Indies likely to name their T20 World Cup squad midway through the CPL, the early exchanges of the tournament are particularly significant for players who are looking to push their cases for selection. Andre Fletcher, the self-styled 'Spiceman' who was ignored in West Indies' recent white-ball squads, has already made a statement by following up his Player-of-the-Series performance in the inaugural 6ixty with scores of 31 and 81 in the CPL. Bosch was named the Player of the Match in Patriots' fixture against Royals, but Fletcher had made a bigger impact than him, according to ESPNcricinfo Smart Stats.
On Sunday, Royals' XI featured captain David Miller, Quinton de Kock, Azam Khan, Bosch and Harry Tector. According to the rules of the CPL, a side can play five overseas players if they pick an emerging player until they finish the quota of five appearances for that player. As Royals picked left-arm seamer Ramon Simmonds, who has graduated from the West Indies Under-19 system, they could slot in an extra overseas player in their XI.
Akeal Hosein, West Indies' premier white-ball spinner, bowled an outstanding boundary-less spell of 4-0-13-4 for Trinbago Knight Riders against Kings. After ending his shift with the ball, Hosein, though, suffered an injury scare when he dived to his right from mid-off and landed awkwardly. Hosein immediately hobbled off the field and sat out of Knight Riders' next game against Patriots. According to captain Kieron Pollard, Hosein had twinged his leg and was rested to recover. Knight Riders will be reinforced by the arrival of Colin Munro, from the Hundred, for the second leg of the CPL in St Lucia.
It's quite hard to imagine the CPL without its eye-catching celebrations. Shamsi, the left-arm wristspinner, who picked the CPL over the Hundred final, brought out his 'shoe-telephone' celebration after having Tallawahs' Imad Wasim carving a catch to extra cover. Tahir, Shamsi's mentor and senior at South Africa, also joined the fun by taking off his own shoe and answering Shami's call from the outfield.
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo