BASSETERRE: Dasun Shanaka produced a spectacular batting display as St Kitts and Nevis Patriots defeated St Lucia Kings by 137 runs in their CPL 2026 clash on Thursday night.
Shanaka reached his century from just 39 deliveries and finished unbeaten on 121 from 43 balls. His explosive innings helped the Patriots set a new record for the biggest winning margin in CPL history.
Patriots Set New CPL Winning Record
The Patriots’ 137-run victory is now the largest margin of victory in the history of the Caribbean Premier League.
The previous record belonged to Trinbago Knight Riders, who defeated Barbados Royals by 133 runs during the 2023 CPL season.
Shanaka Breaks Fastest-Century Record
Shanaka needed only 39 balls to reach three figures, beating the previous CPL record by one delivery.
The earlier mark of 40 balls was jointly held by Andre Russell in 2018, Tim Seifert in 2025 and Shimron Hetmyer in 2025.
Dasun Shanaka smashed a 💯 off 39 balls – the fastest ever in the CPL – en route to 121* off 43 balls for St Kitts & Nevis Patriots against St Lucia Kings 💥 pic.twitter.com/j9HltSAj8F
— Cricinfo (@cricinfo) September 4, 2026
Shanaka’s unbeaten 121 came at a remarkable strike rate of 281.39, the highest recorded for a CPL century. He surpassed Hetmyer’s strike rate of 258.13, achieved during his unbeaten 111 against Trinbago Knight Riders earlier in the season.
Fourth T20 Century for Shanaka
The innings was Shanaka’s fourth century in T20 cricket. He is now among only four batters to have scored at least four T20 hundreds while batting at No. 4 or lower.
Glenn Maxwell leads that group with six centuries, while David Miller and Suryakumar Yadav have also registered four each from those batting positions.
A Record-Breaking Entry
Shanaka entered the game at 9.3 overs and went on to score his century. His entry point is the latest for a century-maker in CPL history.
The previous CPL record was held by Andre Russell, who came to the crease at 9.2 overs before making a century against Trinbago Knight Riders during the 2016 qualifying final.
Across T20 cricket, where fall-of-wickets data is available, Shanaka’s entry at 9.3 overs ranks as the sixth-latest for a century-maker. Scott Styris holds the latest mark in the available records, having walked in at 11.3 overs before scoring a 37-ball century for Sussex against Gloucestershire in 2012.
Shanaka’s Late-Innings Power
Shanaka also smashed nine sixes during the final four overs of the Patriots’ innings.
That is the joint-highest number of sixes hit by a batter in the last four overs of a T20 innings in matches for which ball-by-ball records are available.
It was the second time Shanaka had achieved the feat. He previously struck nine sixes in the final four overs while representing Cumilla Warriors against Rangpur Rangers in the 2019 Bangladesh Premier League.
Sikandar Raza and Yuvraj Singh are the other batters to have hit nine sixes during the final four overs of a T20 innings. Raza achieved it for Zimbabwe against Gambia in 2024, while Yuvraj did so for Royal Challengers Bangalore against Delhi Daredevils in 2014.
Louis Claims Patriots’ First CPL Five-Wicket Haul
Jeremiah Louis added another record to the Patriots’ impressive night by taking 5 for 10.
Before this match, Patriots bowlers had never taken a five-wicket haul in the CPL. Their previous best bowling figures were Tabraiz Shamsi’s 4 for 10 against Barbados Tridents in 2015.
Louis’ figures are the third-best bowling figures in CPL history. Only Shakib Al Hasan’s 6 for 6 for Tridents against Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel in 2013 and Sohail Tanvir’s 5 for 3 for Guyana Amazon Warriors against Tridents in 2017 rank higher.
