Kirk McKenzie hit 69 off 25, and Jamaica have their first win at the fourth attempt
The Kingsmen were 82 without loss after the powerplay at Sabina Park and chased 183 with eight balls to spare. Pooran and Pollard had made 44 each for Trinbago.
Aug 16, 2026
Kirk McKenzie reached fifty off 19 balls at Sabina Park on Saturday night. Jamaica Kingsmen were 82 without loss at the end of the powerplay, chasing 183 against Trinbago Knight Riders, and the match was effectively decided in those six overs.
They got there in 18.4 with five wickets standing. It is the first win in the Kingsmen’s existence, at the fourth time of asking.
Pollard and Pooran made 44 each
Rovman Powell put Trinbago in. Colin Munro laboured over 16 off 26 and Alex Hales made 29, and at 70 for 2 in the 11th over the innings needed something.
Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard added 50 in 25 balls. Pooran finished with 44 off 32 with four sixes, Pollard 44 off 22 with four of his own. Pooran went at the end of the 16th over and Pollard four balls later. Sunil Narine came in at the death and hit 19 not out off eight, which took Trinbago to 182 for 6.
Andre Russell took 2 for 34 and Hunain Shah 2 for 31. Vitel Lawes went for 51 in his four overs, and on most nights that is the number people talk about afterwards.
93 in six overs from the openers
McKenzie hit six fours and six sixes in 25 balls. His 69 came out of an opening stand of 93 that lasted 6.6 overs, with Reeza Hendricks watching most of it from the other end before making a useful 37 off 29 himself.
Usman Tariq bowled McKenzie in the over after the powerplay and then took two more, finishing with 3 for 21 from four. Narine conceded 21 from his four. Between them the two spinners bowled eight overs for 42 runs and three wickets, which in a chase of 183 should have been enough to drag Trinbago back into it.
It was not, because Nathan Edward and Terrance Hinds went for 96 runs between them in 5.4 overs. Shayan Jahangir made 2 and Keacy Carty 11, and neither cost Jamaica anything, because McKenzie had already taken the target down to a size where wickets stopped mattering.
Russell hit 27 off 15 before holing out to Narine at 174. Powell finished it unbeaten on 29.
Three defeats first, two of them by nothing
Jamaica lost their opening match to the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons by two wickets off the final ball on 7 August. They lost to the Barbados Tridents by five runs on 11 August. Then the Guyana Amazon Warriors beat them by six wickets with 35 balls to spare at Sabina Park on 13 August, which was the first of the three that was not close.
Saturday puts them on two points from four matches, seventh of seven, with a net run rate of minus 0.596. The table is tight enough that it hardly matters yet. Six of the seven teams are on two points, and only St Lucia Kings have four.
Jamaica’s first CPL season since 2023
The Kingsmen took the place the Jamaica Tallawahs left when they folded, and this is Jamaica’s first CPL campaign in two years. The league expanded to seven teams to fit them back in, and the franchise is owned by Kingsmen Sports Enterprise, an American group that also bought into the Pakistan Super League.
A first win, and a 25-ball 69 from a Jamaican batter to get it. The Kingsmen play the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots next.