Chris Gayle has been a world class T20 player over the last few years © IANS (File photo)
Cricketers Chris Gayle and Dwayne Bravo topped the aggregates in the just concluded Caribbean Premier League (CPL), though their respective franchises experienced contrasting fates. The left-handed Gayle, who led Jamaica Tallawahs, finished with 430 runs at an average of 61.5 and a strike rate of 160, hammering a highest score of 105, along with three half-centuries. He was ahead of St. Lucia Zouks’ Andre Fletcher, who carved out 369 runs, while Marlon Samuels, the star St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots player , was third in the aggregates with 325 runs, reports CMC. READ: Juhi Chawla delighted at Trinidad and Tobago’s triumph in CPL 2015
Only three other batsmen made it into the 300-run club. Guyana Amazon Warriors’ Lendl Simmons managed 317 runs, Trinidad and Tobago Red Steel’s Jacques Kallis got 304 while Kieron Pollard, the Barbados Tridents’ talismanic captain, scored 303 runs. Gayle was by far the leading run-scorer for Tallawahs and was just one of two players to get over 200 runs. Chadwick Walton scored 243. Tallawahs, the 2013 champions, were knocked out by Red Steel in the first semi-final after finishing fourth in the preliminary round. READ: Shahrukh Khan’s Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel win CPL 2015
Bravo, meanwhile, was outstanding with the ball as he propelled Red Steel to their first CPL title. He finished the tournament with 28 wickets at an average of 11 and an economy rate of seven. Tallawahs left-arm seamer Krishmar Santokie picked up 16 wickets while Amazon Warriors off-spinner Sunil Narine snared 14 wickets. Video: Kieron Pollard gets a beauty from Verasammy Permaul in CPL 2015
Bravo, the Red Steel skipper, was at his most brilliant in the first semi-final against Tallawahs, picking up a regional Twenty20 career best 5/23, to earn his side a 27-run win at Queen’s Park Oval. He picked up 2/19 from three overs in the second semi-final the Red Steel team captured by six wickets but went wicket-less in the final last Sunday as the hosts pulled off a 20-run win. PHOTO: Chris Gayle posts selfie to celebrate 500 posts on Instagram