The 11th edition of the Caribbean Premier League is underway. This season saw some exciting rules being applied in the league that have never been seen in the game of cricket. One of such was the red-card rule, which was seen being applied for the first time on Monday.
It happened during the 12th game of the tournament, when Sunil Narine became the first player to get a red card in CPL history. It was the game between the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots and the Trinbago Knight Riders at Warner Park.
It happened in the final overs of the first inning. Notably, a red card is given to the fielding team if they are unable to finish off the overs in the given time and are behind the time to start the 20th over. As a result, they will lose a fielder and will have to play with 10 players in the final over.
The same happened with the Trinbago Knight Riders, who were behind at the start of the 20th over. Thus, on-field umpire Zahid Bassarath showed his red card and confirmed that TKR would have to field with 10 players. Narine, who completed his four-over quota, was sent off the field.
SENT OFF! The 1st ever red card in CPL history. Sunil Narine gets his marching orders 🚨 #CPL23 #SKNPvTKR #RedCard #CricketPlayedLouder #BiggestPartyInSport pic.twitter.com/YU1NqdOgEX
— CPL T20 (@CPL) August 28, 2023
This rule came into existence to contain the slow overrate. Speaking of the game, after winning the toss, TKR bowled first. St. Kitts had a decent batting performance in the first inning. Skipper Sherfane Rutherford smashed an unbeaten 62 off 38 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes.
A few good contributions helped them reach a competitive total of 178/5 in 20 overs. Narine was the pick of the bowlers with his 3/24. In reply, Nicholas Pooran played a good innings of 61 off 32, including five fours and four sixes. Kieron Pollard (37 off 16) and Andre Russell (23 off 8) helped TKR register their first win in the competition.
