Recapping the Best 5 Moments from the Caribbean Premier League

While most people were getting very serious about bad light, rain, amusing declarations and Australia's decline in England, there was a little party going on somewhere else in the world.

In another timezone, far, far away, the first edition of the Caribbean Premier T20 League got going.

Chris Gayle claimed his first ever T20 title with home side Jamaica as they beat Guyana by seven wickets in the final.

For those keen to relive it, or those who missed it altogether, we're here to recap some of the highlights from the series.  

Top Scorers and Wicket Takers

Top run scorers 2013 Caribbean Premier League T20 

Player	Matches	Runs	High Score	Strike Rate
Shoaib Malik	8	272	78	112.86
Lendl Simmons	9	266	67*	101.14
Andre Fletcher	7	238	76	111.21
Chris Gayle	9	234	51	105.88
James Franklin	9	203	60*	133.55

Top wicket takers 2013 Caribbean Premier League T20 

Player	Matches	Wickets	Runs	Average	Best Figures
Krishmar Santokie	9	16	219	13.68	3-19
Shakib Al Hasan	8	11	142	12.90	6-6
Marlon Samuels	7	10	136	13.60	3-10
Ashley Nurse	8	10	137	13.70	4-28
Ryad Emrit	8	10	144	14.40	319

5. Ricky Ponting and Tino Best Make Best Friends

Ricky Ponting has never been one to keep quiet when somebody is giving him lip. Tino Best likes to dish it out whenever he can—whether that's on Twitter or on the cricket field. The two got stuck into each other when St. Lucia played Antigua on 6 August.

There was nothing overtly nasty about it, it was just the usual case of a little bit too much attitude on the pitch.

Ponting's Antigua won the game, while Best was carted around the park, finishing with figures of 4-0-43-0.

Guess it's clear who won that battle in the end. 

4. Chris Gayle Continues His Love for Crazy Sunglasses

Batting while wearing sunglasses—there's a new one.

Chris Gayle did exactly that. Even if he looked foolish, he still looked intimidating. The big Jamaican finished as the fourth highest run scorer in the competition with 234 runs in nine games. He only managed one 50, though, at a rather mediocre average of 29.25 and a somewhat subdued strike rate of 105.88.

Not that any of that matters when you're as cool as Christopher Henry Gayle.  

3. Devon Thomas' Extraordinary Catch

Good fielding so often goes unpraised.

Devon Thomas, who usually plays as a wicket keeper, took an amazing catch to get rid of Dwayne Smith. An acrobatic leap into the air and plucking the ball like it was an apple made for great viewing.

Thomas hardly even celebrated, simply chucking the ball up in the air as if to say, "I do this every day."

2. Andre Russell Hits an Unbeaten 29 off 6 Balls

Twenty20 is all about the gimme-gimme stuff, whether that's clattering wickets or hitting runs as quickly as possible.

Andre Russell smashed an unbeaten 29 off just six balls in the second semi-final of the competition. The match ended with Russell hitting three consecutive sixes, ending the competition as the man with the most sixes to his name.

Russell has been growing in entertainment stature for quite some time now and his exploits in the Caribbean Premier League will, perhaps, finally cement his place as one of the best T20 players going.

Jamaica beat Barbados by seven wickets with nine balls left thanks to his little whip around.  

1. Shakib Al Hasan Takes 6 for 6

Shakib Al Hasan is a really solid player and a very handy all-rounder to have in any team.

He claimed figures of six for six in four overs (including one maiden) to help Barbados sneak a win over Trinidad.

A combination of some crafty bowling and some poor batting helped Al Hasan record one of the most memorable spells of bowling in the history of T20—much to the delight of the Barbados crowd.