THE BIGGEST PARTY IN SPORT returns for a third running on June 20 as the 2015 Caribbean Premier League (CPLT) T20 Cricket Competition kicks off with a firecracker of a contest.
In a repeat of last year’s final, champions Barbados Tridents will clash with runners-up Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Kensington Oval.
An action-packed schedule of 33 matches sees games taking place in Barbados, St Lucia, St Kitts, Jamaica and Guyana, with the finals in Trinidad at the Queens Park Oval over the last weekend in July.
The final match will be held on July 26 at 4:30 p.m. local time.
Twenty-nine of the 33 games will be played at night, and there will be a game almost every day of the tournament.
All six teams – Tridents, Warriors, Jamaica Tallawahs, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, St Lucia Zouks and Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel – play ten games in the regular season, with two semi-finals and a final to decide who will be crowned 2015 champions.
Record prize money is on offer, which has helped attract some of the world’s finest T20 players including Shahid Afridi, Jacques Kallis, Kevin Pietersen, Shoaib Malik, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Daniel Vettori, Lasith Malinga and Martin Guptill with the draft held earlier this year seeing all the teams strengthening their squads.
West Indian superstars Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy, Dwayne Bravo, Darren Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Andre Russell and Jason Holder are also all involved in CPL15, with last year’s global audience of 65 million expected to be surpassed.
“You can sense the excitement is already building,” said CPL CEO Damien O’Donohoe. “I am thrilled that so many quality players from within the Caribbean and around the world have been attracted to play in the CPL this season.
“Now that the schedule has been revealed, fans can start to plan a summer of unrivalled entertainment with the biggest party in sport taking centre stage.
“There will be something for everyone this year and the action will be non-stop from 20th June until the final on Sunday 26th July.”
O’Donohoe added: “We’re really encouraging fans to get their tickets early to avoid disappointment as we fully expect to be selling out stadiums across the region again this year.
“We are very much looking forward to welcoming our CPL fans from around the Caribbean and the world to each of our great venues.” (PR)