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Johnson Charles and Faf du Plessis powered the Saint Lucia Kings to a quick 5-wicket win over the Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground in Saint Lucia on Thursday.
The pair put together a boundary-laden 115-run opening partnership that made light work of overhauling the Patriots’ 173 for 5, which they did with 21 balls to spare.
The victory gave the Kings their first home win of the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League and pushed them to third on the table, well poised to seal a top four place.
Johnson hit seven sixes and four fours—a few of them-left-handed—and his presence appeared to dictate to STKNP skipper Andre Fletcher which bowlers he should or should not call up. His 50 came off 33 balls and when he got to 38, his tally of runs in the CPL reached 3,000.
Du Plessis (62, 31b, 5×6, 5×4), who reached the boundary and went over it regularly in reaching 1000 CPL runs, was dismissed at 115 for one but the Kings had used less than half their overs to get there.
Earlier, after the Kings asked his team to bat first, Fletcher (62, 50 balls, 2×6, 5×4) took his tally to 2,995.
He was almost as dominant as Charles in the powerplay, in which he and Evin Lewis managed to get 51—their team’s highest opening stand in 2024.
But without a run added, it ended in the next over when Lewis square-drove Shadrack Descarte, the sixth bowler in seven overs, straight to Johnson Charles at point.
The Spiceman got to his half-century, his 18th in the CPL, after facing 40 deliveries. He managed just 12 off the next ten before he was brilliantly caught by 39-year-old David Wiese, running back to pouch a skier at long-off.
Rilee Rossouw struck a few lusty blows to get to 50 off 30 balls. And Mikyle Louis hit his first ball into the stand but did not carry on.
Louis tried to repeat the shot and was caught by Shadrack Descarte running in from the leg-side boundary—a stunning catch that rivalled the one Wiese took to dismiss Pollard the night before.
Nobody else made any contribution of note, leaving Charles and his captain to beat the still struggling visitors into submission.
On Sunday, third-placed SLK (6 pts) go up against Chris Green’s Antigua and Barbuda Falcons (4 pts) at the same Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.
After a shaky start, ABF cobbled together unlikely consecutive wins against TKR and the Patriots. Now, they have momentum, the wind, they hope, beneath their wings.
Photo: Randy Brooks/ CPL T20 via Getty Images
Faf du Plessis’ side went in the opposite direction, losing twice after posting convincing wins in their first two games. Now that they seem to have righted the ship, their goal is to move full speed ahead with the wind in their sails.
Which way will things go in Gros Islet? The answer is blowing in the wind.
Table-proppers STKNP’s (2 pts) next assignment is on Tuesday against the Barbados Royals (6 pts) in Kensington Oval in Barbados.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images
With only two points in the bag after six matches, the Patriots are in a battle royale to keep their heads above water. They cannot expect the Royals, contending for a top place, to throw them a lifeline.
It is not that they have not had good individual performances; they simply have not been able to get over the line.
Skipper Andre Fletcher got another half-century today to take his tally to only five short of 3,000. His fellow opener Evin Lewis already has a century this year and Kyle Mayers and hometown hero Mikyle Louis have all produced the goods on occasion.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/CPL T20 via Getty Images
But not all together.
Middle-order batsman Sherfane Rutherford withdrew his services but allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga brought his magic with bat and ball. Despite flying in to the country only on match day, he made 23 and had figures of 4/16 against ABF and bagged two more scalps today.
So, will Fletcher be able to bring the best out of them in the three games that remain to get them to a fighting ten points?
Photo: Randy Brooks/CPL T20 via Getty Images
He has made no secret of the fact that leaving their home fans without a single win is a bone stuck in his craw. What better way to console their supporters, the team and himself than to win—and win big!—on the road?
But the skipper knows to his cost that talking the talk gets you nowhere if you don’t walk the walk.
A journey of a thousand miles—from where they now sit at the bottom of the table, qualification in the top four must seem like that—begins with one step.
Summarised scores
Toss: St Lucia Kings
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots: 173 for 5 (20 overs) Andre Fletcher 62, Rilee Rossouw 50; Alzarri Joseph 2/38
St Lucia Kings: 176 for 5 (16.3 overs) Johnson Charles 74, Faf du Plessis 62; Wanindu Hasaranga 2/13, Josh Clarkson 2/18
Man-of-the-Match: Johnson Charles
Result: Saint Lucia Kings win by 5 wickets
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