Saint Lucians will be glued to their Television sets today as the Saint Lucia Kings will attempt to lift the trophy after securing a berth in the ‘Grande Finale’ of the 9th edition of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20.
Yesterday saw four top teams battling it out for the final two spots with the Kings going through to the finals just before press time.
It was sweet revenge for the Kings yesterday after beating the Trinbago Knight Riders, the same team which beat them in the finals last year.
Scores, Saint Lucia Kings, 205 for 4 at a run rate of 10.25 in their allotted 20 overs. Mark Deyal 78, Roston Chase 36, Tim David not out 38 and David Wiese not out 34.
Bowling for TKR, Sunil Narine 1 for 12, Akeal Hosein 1 for 27, Khary Pierre 1 for 51 and Ravi Rampaul 1 for 56.
Chasing 206 for victory, TKR was bowled out for 184 in 19.3 overs.
Sunil Narine 30, Denesh Ramdin 29, Colin Munro 28, Kieron Pollard 26, Tim Seifert 10.Bowling for SLK, David Wiese picked up his second five wicket haul in this year’s tournament, he finished with 5 for 39. Also amongst the wickets were Keemo Paul 2 for 22, Wahab Riaz 2 for 35 and Alzarri Joseph 1 for 24.
The second semifinal, also played yesterday between five-times finalist Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAR), and host Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots (SKANP), began as we went to press.
Like the previous editions, this year’s tournament was no exception with some breath taking actions over 32 games. Andre Russel (Jamaica Tallawahs) brutal record breaking 50 from 14 balls against the Saint Lucia Kings remains as one of the major highlights. The Saint Lucia Kings back-to-back victory against the host Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots when everyone thought the Patriots was unbeatable up to that point was another record breaking moment.
Centuries scored thus far in the tournament: Fab du Plessis (Saint Lucia Kings) 120 not out, Evin Lewis (Trinbago Knight Riders) 102 not out and Chanderpaul Hemraj (Guyana Amazon Warriors) 105 not out.
Most Runs, Roston Chase (Saint Lucia Kings) 397 with his highest score of 85, earned him a call on the West Indies 15-man squad to defend the ICC T20 World Cup which bowls off in October in Dubai.
Second amongst the runs, Evin Lewis (Trinbago Knight Riders) with 343 at an average of 42.87, (3rd) Fab du Plessis 277, (4th) Kennar Lewis 262 (Jamaica Tallawahs), (5th)Glen Phillips 254 (Barbados Royals), (6th) Colin Munro 239 (Trinbago Knight Riders), (7th) Nicholas Pooran 237 (Guyana Amazon Warriors), (8th) Kieron Pollard 235 (Trinbago Knights Riders), (9th) Tim David 234 (Saint Lucia Kings), and (10th) Chanderpaul Hemraj 227 (Guyana Amazon Warriors) round off the top ten spots.
Evin Lewis (Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots) leads the charge for the Most Sixes in this year’s tournament with 30, Lewis is followed by Nicholas Pooran (Guyana Amazon Warriors) and Roston Chase with 22 each, Keenan Lewis (Jamaica Tallawahs) 20, Kieron Pollard and Tim David (Saint Lucia Kings) 18 each, Glenn Phillips (Barbados Royals) and Andre Russell (Jamaica Tallawahs) 16, Sherfane Rutherford (Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots) 15, Chanderpaul Hemraj (Guyana Amazon Warriors) round off the 9th and 10th spot with 14 each.
Recalled West Indies fast bowler for the 2021 ICC T20 World Cup Ravi Rampaul (Trinbago Knight Riders) top the list with 19 wickets, followed by (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Romario Shepherd (Guyana Amazon Warriors) with 18. Shepherd has best figures of 3 for 15 and Rampaul 4 for 29.
Odean Smith (Guyana Amazon Warriors) and Migael Pretorius (Jamaica Tallawahs) 16 each, Akeal Hosein (14), Imran Tahir (Guyana Amazon Warriors), Dominic Drakes (Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots) and Sunil Narine (Trinbago Knight Riders) 13 each, Jeavor Royal (Saint Lucia Kings) Mohammad Amir (Barbados Royals), Isuru Udana (Trinbago Knight Riders), Andre Russell (Jamaica Tallawahs) 11 each and Kesrick Williams and David Wiese (Saint Lucia Kings) 10 round off the bowlers with 10 or more wickets.
