Saint Lucia Kings secured an emphatic victory over the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) Sunday, to move up to 2nd place on the Hero CPL T20 points table for this season.
The 1-run winning margin by the Kings emphasized the intensity and importance of that game – as the opposing sides closed out the campaign in the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) leg of the series.
Newly recalled West Indies batter, Johnson Charles , was in action again to steer the Kings to a challengeable total with a top score of 54( 46) , before he fell after experiencing some muscle injuries and discomfort that required at least two stops for treatment.
Charles hit his fourth half-century for this CPL T20 season to set his team on course, while sharing a second wicket partnership of 59 (45) with Niroshan Dickwella 21 (17), to close out at 147/6. He celebrated his call-up for the T20 World Cup with back-to-back half-centuries. He was particularly aggressive against elite spin, taking on Rashid Khan, Sunil Narine and Akeal Hosein.
Charles is the second-highest run-getter in the history of the CPL and is looking to surpass Gayle.
David Wiese 33 (14), in a highly dependable role that he has assumed for the Kings struck out aggressively towards the end, to help the team pose a challenging score.
The Kings put in a disciplined bowling attack to keep the pressure on TKR. Faf du Plessis matched up Chase’s offspin with a left-hander-heavy TKR top order. Chase did his job, removing Leonardo Julien, Colin Munro and Nicholas Pooran cheaply, to send back three early batters and have TKR reeling at 16/3 (3.3overs); before skipper Kieron Pollard 34 (23) and Tim Seifert 44 (44) attempted a recovery act with 54 (42) for the fourth wicket.
The ever ‘fiery’ Alzaari Joseph with 2/26 (4) proved to be the tormentor at the back end, with a sizzling spell of seam bowling that included the scalp of Pollard.
And despite late blows from Andre Russell 23*(11) and Sunil Narine 19*(14) to give the home fans something to cheer about; Kings prevailed, with Roshun Primus defending 21 off the final over to lift Kings to second on the points table.
In the absence of Tim David, who has now linked up with the Australia team in India, the Kings won both their games in the Trinidad leg. Adam Hose, David’s replacement, didn’t do much, but Kings’ seniors stepped up to brush aside the Patriots and then edge Trinbago Knight Riders by one run.
Against Patriots, on a challenging Tarouba track that slowed down as the game progressed, du Plessis and Charles were proactive enough to make use of the powerplay, helping Kings to 60 for 2 in that phase.
In response, Patriots reached only 47 for 2 in the first six overs of their chase. Wiese then delivered a double-wicket maiden and Kesrick Williams unfurled his slower variations as Patriots’ chase unravelled.
As for TKR, they are presently fourth, with only three wins in eight games, and having already lost USA quick Ali Khan to injury, they’ve been depleted further by Jayden Seales’ absence for the remainder of CPL 2022. According to Pollard, Seales has a “fitness issue” and has been replaced by England allrounder Samit Patel.
[Saint Lucia Kings – 147/6 (20 overs) – J. Charles 54 (46), David Wiese 33 (14), Ravi Rampaul 2/10 (2), Sunil Narine 2/31 (4); TKR – 146/6 (20 overs) – Tim Seifert 44 (44), Kieron Pollard 34 (23), Roston Chase 3/17 (4), Alzarri Joseph 2/26 (4)].
Kings won by 1 run.