Trinbago Knight Riders piled on the runs in their opening match of the Caribbean Premier League 2024 season opener, taking the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots for 250 runs in the first innings before going on to win the match by 44 runs.
Their total was the third-highest scored in the history of the CPL. Here’s the list of the the top 5 highest scores in CPL history. Interestingly, number 2 to 5 were all scored at Warner Park in Basseterre, St. Kitts, while the highest score came at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica.
Jamaica Tallawahs come in at number 5 on this list with a blistering effort to score 241 in their 20 overs against the Patriots in 2019. Their innings came with a powerful display from Chris Gayle, who hammered 116 runs in 62 balls. Gayle’s innings consisted of 10 maximums. Chadwick Walton also provided a terrific innings, whacking 73 from 36 deliveries, including 8 sixes.
While this was a punishing inning, and set the record for the highest CPL score at the time, it wouldn’t be enough and soon be overtaken.
In the very same match at Basseterre, the Patriots would chase down Jamaica’s total with 7 balls to spare. In all the match saw over 480 runs, but the hosts would have the last laugh as the entire order contributed to the blitz in a winning cause.
Devon Thomas guided the inning sith 71(40), with Evin Lewis making full use of the powerplay with 53(18). Laurie Evans score 41(20), and Fabian Allen also scored 37(15), taking the Patriots home with time to spare in a dream match for batters.
Third place is the Knight Riders’ innings on Saturday, and yet another match played at the runs paradise in basseterre. Sunil Narine opened the floodgates with a typical powerplay flurry, scoring 38(19) in an innings where 36 runs came off boundaries or sixes. Nicholas Pooran would be the backbone of the innings, demolishing the Patriots with 97 runs off 43 balls, falling narrowly short of a century.
Keacy Carter would push the total into record territory with 73*(35). It would prove to be too many for Patriots, who couldn’t string together partnerships and try to repeat their feat from 2019.
In their second appearance on this list, the Tallwahs smashed 255 in 2021 in a match they ended up winnings by a massive 120 runs. While there was no standout big score in this innings, all the batters contributed with brisk and devastating batting, the crowning jewel being Andre Russell’s 50*(14), the fastest half-century in the CPL.
The top 3 of Chadwick Walton, Kennar Lewis and Haider Ali all contributed with 40+ scores, but it was Russell’s carnage at the death which pushed the Tallawahs into this sort of hallowed territory.
A big jump up from number two to number one, and the first match on this list played away from Basseterre. Trinbago Knight Riders put the Tallawahs to the sword in Sabina Park in 2019, only losing two wickets as they sprinted their way to 267. Lendl Simmons opened the batting with 86(42), but it was powerful Kiwi Colin Munro’s 96*(50) from number 3 that opened the floodgates.
Captain Kieron Pollard would join Munro to end the innings in emphatic fashion, striking 45 off 17 balls to put the cap on a demolition-job of a display in Jamaica.
Tallawahs would score 226 runs in response. Interestingly, while this was well short of the target, it is currently the sixth-highest score in the CPL, just missing out on this list.
