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Zouks short despite Watson's brilliance

Evin Lewis leads St Kitts to their first victory of this season's Caribbean Premier League

The match in a tweet: The Patriots are on the board! Watto’s all-round brilliance not enough as St Kitts secure a big win to open their #CPL16 account

The result: St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 7-203 defeated St Lucia Zouks 5-145

The hero: Evin Lewis has yet to establish himself as a household name in the cricket world, but the powerful left-hander was at his brutal best on the way to 73 from 36 balls at Warner Park. The 24-year-old has so far earned just the one T20 appearance at the international level – a duck in West Indies’ sole defeat at this year’s World T20 – but today’s display of six fours and five sixes suggests a big future once Chris Gayle’s time is up.

The Aussies: If you’re picking a T20 All-Star team to play tomorrow, how long until Shane Watson gets picked up? The 35-year-old allrounder did most of the heavy lifting with 3-36 from his four overs, followed by a team-high 55 from 31 balls to give his Zouks some hope.

Mike Hussey struggled to get his innings going after Johnson Charles, Watson, and Andre Fletcher fell in reasonably quick succession. The Australian great finished unbeaten on 22 from 28 deliveries as his side fell 58 runs short.

Patriots batsman Brad Hodge was given only two balls to do his thing with the willow, dropping down the order to No.8. The veteran batsman managed to secure the red ink with a single to his name.

The promotion: After coming in at No.8 in Saturday’s narrow defeat to Jamaica, Devon Thomas made the most of his surprise promotion up to No.4 by blasting 48 from 27 balls. Thomas clearly preferred the aerial route, clearing the rope five times with one four to go with it.

The international stars: South Africa’s T20 skipper Faf du Plessis was kept quiet with just nine from 12 balls, as Morne Morkel dismissed his national teammate for his sole wicket of the night. Du Plessis did manage to bury the demons of his horror drop on Thursday, taking a sharp catch to send Andre Fletcher on his way.

Fellow South African Tabraiz Shamsi continued his impressive form in the Caribbean, conceding just 5.5 runs an over along with the wicket of Fletcher. Sri Lanka allrounder Thisara Perera also played a key role in stalling St Lucia’s momentum, claiming 1-14 from his three overs.

The next stop: St Kitts return to Warner Park at 9am Friday (AEST) to take on Barbados, while St Lucia will now enjoy a break before returning to action against Guyana on Wednesday of next week.