CPL committee rubberstamps result of disputed final

The Caribbean Premier League's (CPL) cricket tournament committee has ruled that match referee Denavon Hayles properly applied the relevant rules in the rain-hit CPL final on August 16, which Barbados Tridents won by 8 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis method. In a release announcing the committee's finding, the CPL also confirmed that Guyana Amazon Warriors had indeed filed a complaint - as was widely speculated in the media following the match - "with regard to the outcome of the final".

It is understood that Amazon Warriors had issues with the officials' application of the rules regarding the time allotted for the match in the face of several rain delays. The committee had decided on the matter after reviewing the match referee's report and "the arguments raised by the Guyana Amazon Warriors in their several written representations". It could now be escalated to the ICC, though, if the "contending parties" wanted as much, the CPL release said.

"Having carefully considered the report of the match referee and the arguments raised by the Guyana Amazon Warriors, the [committee] has concluded that there are no grounds for the result of the final to be reversed or nullified," chairman of the cricket tournament committee, PJ Patterson, said, adding that the image of the tournament should not be muddied. "The CPL has succeeded in reinvigorating the passion for cricket across the region and has in two short years established its own distinctive brand and earned exciting market appeal. Nothing must be done to impair its image or erode its credibility."

In the rain-marred match, Tridents got to 152 for 6. Amazon Warriors had batted out 15.5 overs in the chase when the rain came down again, and play was eventually ended there.