By: Precious Mills

BASSETRRE, St.Kitts (Thursday 6th September 2018) – A two-wicket win over Barbados Tridents on Tuesday 4th September at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium, in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 tournament, sent fans of the St.Kitts & Nevis Patriots wild with excitement as the team continued its winning ways following its victory against the Jamaica Tallawahs two days earlier, having redeemed from losing two other matches before attaining champion status on franchise home turf.

That night Tridents scored 168 for 5 with 44 from Nicholas Pooran.

Middle-order batsman Fabian Allen of the Patriots team was the star of the match. After the Patriots found itself at 92 for 6 (in the 12th over), a defining moment saw Allen to the rescue with a knock of 64 not out off 34 balls taking the team home with 19.4 overs in the last match hosted in the Federation this time around.

As understood, the Patriots-whose regular season is finished- have qualified for the playoffs taking a spot in the top four.

Allen, in speaking with local reporters after game, thanked his coach for giving him the opportunity to “execute my plans. Well, my plan was to stick to my basic of what I always do. I always had these innings in me so I just go out there and try to execute it.

According to him: “They [my team] always believed in me so I just back myself and just go out there and just stick to the role I’m supposed to play and just go out there.”

Captain Chris Gayle thanked the Patriots fans for showing support.

“… I want to thank the Patriots crowd to actually turn out to support us. I know sometimes they’ve been harsh on us a bit but I still want to give them credit for the turn out and the support to actually stand behind us and cheer us on right to til the end.”

He applauded Allen saying: “What a magnificent innings Fabian Allen played. He is a youngster. He has been around quite a while now and he is just showing the hunger and determination out there in the middle. It’s good to have someone in the team who could actually finish off the game for you so it was a brilliant innings and he took it home for us which I’m very happy and pleased with.”

This reporter interacted with Patriots fans including Natalie Louis of-the mother Jeremiah Louis who is a Kittitian Patriots cricketer. His mom is the leader of a cheerleaders group called the Pink Patriots which made appearances during the CPL matches.

Here is what the fans had to say:

St.Kitts Pink Patriots –Natalia Louis

“Overall, I think we could have done much better but it is what it is at times and tonight I thought for a moment that we would lose but we kept our heads together! They kept the batting together and we are thankful for Fabian Allen who came out and he really mashed it up and spiced it up and made our day! We just feel good to say hooray!”

Shauna and Troy
“The match was a really good one. Competitively, there was the [stiff] competition. It was an exciting game to watch. Overall, the Patriots performance could have been better but we’re satisfied still.”- Shauna

“We have two wins at home ….We did better than Barbados who lost all in Barbados so we did great still and we want to continue rallying with them for the playoffs and we hope that we’ll be able to pull off that; we should be able to.”- Troy

Winston ‘Zack’ Nisbett
“This game that was won tonight is a benefit to St.Kitts and Nevis. It’s a good thing because it’s a psychological impact on the development of the game and it’s a good thing. Even though they have qualified already, this is a good thing that they have won the game under stress, and I’m impressed with Allen. I like his style of batting. I think though that they have to look at the bowling a little bit and also the batting line-up in the future games because they are going to meet more difficult games going into the semi-finals and the finals. They need upgrade the games but all in all the patriots have done well and I believe that’s a good thing for them and I wish them well throughout the entire series. I believe they could capture the final game and win and make us feel proud.”

Cedric Liburd
“It was a very close match for me; I think Tridents made too much runs tonight but we were able to do it. There were some changes in the team but those who came in for the match did very well. I’m now looking forward to the semi-finals and the play offs. They have done well overall.”

Javanie Marsham

“The game was very exciting I must say. It was the most exciting game so far. I was at the edge of my seat in the last two overs but Allen brought it home Thank God! I was praying for Patriots so hard!”