Shanaka slams fastest CPL ton for massive Patriots win

St Lucia Kings were wrapped up for just 98 in reply to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots' 235 after Jeremiah Louis' maiden T20 five-for

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 235 for 4 (Shanaka 121*, Fletcher 64, Forde 2-48) beat St Lucia Kings 98 (Seifert 50, Louis 5-10, Nedd 2-24, Hasaranga 2-25) by 137 runs

"I'm loving it here," Dasun Shanaka said before the CPL 2026 game on Thursday night, and he went on to show everyone exactly how much.

Shanaka broke the record for the fastest CPL century with a 39-ball hundred that ended St Kitts and Nevis Patriots' home run with their biggest win (by runs). The 137-run thrashing strengthened Patriots' position in fifth spot to keep their playoff chances very much alive with a boost of their net run-rate from -0.547 to 0.593, while St Lucia Kings' slipped to -0.888, even though they are one of three teams to be one point ahead of Patriots.

What was remarkable about Shanaka's century was not just that he scored an unbeaten 121 off 43 balls to help Patriots post 235, but that he went out to bat only in the tenth over, when they were 89 for 2.

Kings had hardly anything going for them after winning the toss as they started by dropping Kyle Mayers on the second ball of the game before Andre Fletcher's boundary-laden stay ended the powerplay at 59 for 1. Fletcher got a couple of lives, too. He was dropped when on 43, off the fourth ball of the seventh over, by Matthew Forde at long-on, the fielder parrying the ball for a six, and then again off the last ball of the over, bowled by Joshua Bishop, when Maheesh Theekshana dropped him at long-off.

Not long after, Fletcher was joined by Shanaka when Johnson Charles had fallen for a scratchy 26 off 23.

Shanaka started his assault with consecutive leg-side sixes off Roston Chase before going after Forde. The wickets of Fletcher and Jason Holder in consecutive overs hardly deterred him as he belted sixes off Chase and Keon Gaston to bring up a 24-ball half-century and then peppered the boundary with 6, 6 and 4 off his compatriot Theekshana - as Wanindu Hasaranga watched from the other end - for a 20-run over.

He saved the best for the end, smashing Gaston for four more sixes and a four in the last over, which went for 28, to help Patriots amass 93 in the last five overs. That ended Kings' ordeal with the ball but only after Shanaka and Hasaranga had stitched together 93 off just 31 balls, and Shanaka had blasted eight fours and 12 sixes.

The Kings chase, which lasted just 13.5 overs, never came close to matching the Patriots' innings.

Kamil Pooran fell for a duck in the first over before Hasaranga rattled the stumps twice to leave Kings reeling on 55 for 4.

Jeremiah Louis soon made it 74 for 6 with the wickets of Chase and Forde on back-to-back deliveries, while opener Tim Seifert watched the match slip away from the other end.

He struck a 36-ball 50 but only two other batters scored in double-digits as Louis continued to chip away, taking five of the last six wickets to bundle Kings for 98 with his maiden five-for in only his tenth T20 game.