Netravalkar and Holder take three each, and the Patriots have their first win of the CPL

Two three-wicket hauls and five overs of squeeze at the death, and the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots have their first win of CPL 2026. They beat the Saint Lucia Kings by five wickets in Gros Islet on 12 August, a night game that finished in the early hours of Thursday India time, with 14 balls to spare.

Jason Holder took 3 for 20. Saurabh Netravalkar took 3 for 32. Between them they turned a Kings innings that was heading past 180 into 155 for 8.

Eighty-two in 51 balls, then 22 in five overs

Netravalkar took two inside the powerplay, Andries Gous caught for 4 and Ackeem Auguste caught for a three-ball duck. Kamil Pooran and Jewel Andrew rebuilt from there. Pooran made 54 off 30, Andrew 58 off 42, and their third-wicket stand was worth 82 from 51 balls. At the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium that usually means a total in the 180s.

Pooran was run out by Wanindu Hasaranga, Andrew added 39 with Charith Asalanka, and then the innings fell over. Five wickets went down for 22 runs in the last five overs. Holder bowled Andrew, had Asalanka caught in his first over at the death and pinned Shadley van Schalkwyk at long-off. Netravalkar’s third came when Matthew Forde skied one that the wind held up long enough for Holder to get under it.

The Mumbai left-armer who keeps turning up

Netravalkar’s figures are the ones Indian fans will read twice. He was born in Mumbai in 1991, was India’s leading wicket-taker at the 2010 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand with nine wickets in six matches, and played Ranji Trophy cricket for Mumbai. None of it took him near the senior side.

So he left. A master’s at Cornell, a job as a software engineer at Oracle, a USA debut in 2018, and then the over that made him famous everywhere cricket is watched: 18 to defend in the super over against Pakistan at the 2024 T20 World Cup, and he defended it. He is 34 now, bowling with the new ball and at the death on surfaces designed for hitting, which is the least forgiving job in this competition. Three for 32 is a good night in it.

Fletcher stayed, everyone else swung

The chase was never in real doubt. Johnson Charles was bowled by Forde for 16 off five balls, Kyle Mayers hit 32 off 16, and the Patriots were 59 for 2 after the powerplay. Andre Fletcher then did what he has done in this league for a decade and simply stayed there, 48 not out off 41, present for every one of the six partnerships and content to let the batter at the other end take the risks.

Kevin Wickham made 19, Holder 10, Dasun Shanaka 12, and Hasaranga was unbeaten on 9 when Fletcher hit the boundary in the 18th over that finished it. Maheesh Theekshana was the only Kings bowler who looked like changing anything, 2 for 22 from his four. Forde went for 47 in 2.4 overs. Fletcher took the player-of-the-match award.

The Patriots had lost their opener to the Trinbago Knight Riders on 8 August, a rain-shortened game in which Sunil Narine returned 4-1-7-3. Two matches in, they are level on two points with four other teams, and their bowling looks like the part of this side that travels.

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