– CEO Damien O’Donohoe says CPL Finals will be held in a “fitting arena”
The Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) are delighted to announce that the staging of this year’s finals have been awarded to Warner Park in St. Kitts & Nevis.
All four games of the knock-out stages of the biggest party in sport will be played at Warner Park, starting on Wednesday, 3 August and culminating in the 34th and final game on Sunday, 7 August. There will be a reserve day on Monday, 8 August. INews first broke the story a day ago that tourism-based St Kitts outbids oil-rich Trinidad and Tobago in the race to host the CPL finals.
Commenting on the announcement, CPL CEO Damien O’Donohoe said: “After a lengthy process over the last number of months, we are delighted to announce that the finals will be held once more in St. Kitts & Nevis.
“Warner Park is an iconic and intimate venue and will be a fitting arena for the staging of the Play offs and Final, in what is shaping up to be a hugely exciting tournament. Having hosted the 2014 finals, we know that there will be a strong appetite across St. Kitts & Nevis who will no doubt welcome thousands of supporters from across the Caribbean and beyond during finals week.
“On behalf of CPL I would like to thank the government of St. Kitts & Nevis for their support, not least Minister Richards and his cabinet colleagues who have each played a key role in agreeing to host this year’s finals.”
The Honourable Shawn Richards, Deputy Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, and Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture said: “On behalf of the St. Kitts & Nevis government, I would like to express my delight that the finals of the biggest party in sport will be hosted here, in front of the most passionate fans in the Caribbean.
“We are truly honoured by this award by CPL and we will endeavour to host the greatest finals to date. I know that we can count on the great support of the people of St. Kitts & Nevis to turn up in huge numbers once more to see some of the greatest cricketing talent in the world. We look forward to welcoming thousands of visitors from near and far to savour the sights and rich heritage of our great nation.”
This will be the second time that the finals have been awarded to the prestigious venue in St. Kitts.
Kieron Pollard’s Barbados Tridents, who clinched the title last time out in 2014 in Warner Park, will no doubt be hoping that the selection of this year’s finals venue is a favourable omen for what is set to be the most competitive CPL to date.
The CPL T20 tournament is played between six teams and is divided into a group stage and a knockout stage. In the group stage, the teams each play 10 matches overall, four of which are at home, with each team also playing two neutral venue games in Central Broward Stadium, Lauderhill, Florida (from 28-31 July).
In all, seven stadia will be used in this year’s CPL; Barbados (Kensington Oval), Fort Lauderdale (Central Broward Stadium, Lauderhill), Guyana (Providence Stadium), Jamaica (Sabina Park), St. Kitts & Nevis (Warner Park), St. Lucia (Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium) and Trinidad & Tobago (Queen’s Park Oval).
The knockout stage will feature the following games involving the top four teams at the end of league play:
Game 1: 1st v 2nd (Winner advances to Final)
Game 2: 3rd v 4th (Loser eliminated)
Game 3: Loser Game 1 v Winner Game 2 (Loser eliminated)
Game 4 Final
All four play-off games will be played at Warner Park. (cplt20)
