Wired868 Wired868 for smart sport news and opinion
In Match 5 of the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL), the Saint Lucia Kings recovered from 24 for 4 to defeat the Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots by 5 wickets.
In Match 17 at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground in St Lucia on Sunday, the SLK reduced the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons to 28 for 5—and whipped them by 26 runs.
The contest marked the Kings’ final home match of the 2024 season.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/ CPL T20 via Getty Images
The Kings got 202 in their Match 5 chase; they asked ABF to chase 50 less yesterday. Thanks in large part to David Wiese.
The 39-year-old allrounder blasted 20 runs, including three sixes, off 21-year-old Kelvin Pitman to push the target over 150. And given 32 runs to defend in the last over when the ABF batted, he conceded a paltry seven.
The destroyer-in-chief was Khary Pierre, whose figures read at one point 3/3. The man-of-the-match sent back two batsmen with the first two balls of his second over, the third of the innings after dismissing the first batsman in his first.
The Falcons never recovered, losing a fifth wicket to Roston Chase in his first over, the last of the powerplay.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/ CPL T20 via Getty Images
Skipper Chris Green and Shamar Springer added 60 before Springer was run out in a mix-up. After that, there was little real fight. The miserly Noor Ahmad claimed his second wicket to finish with 2/13.
Once Green won the toss—the first time this season—he had no hesitation in opting to field. By the end of the powerplay, it looked like a very good decision, the score reading 42 for 3.
Green himself sent back his opposite number and Chase off consecutive balls in the sixth over after a rampaging Johnson Charles (25 off 20 balls with five fours) nicked off to Springer in the fifth.
Preferring to rely on the slow stuff, Green used Mohammad Amir for just two overs in the powerplay.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/ CPL T20 via Getty Images
Seam next appeared immediately after Pitman let an Ackeem Auguste top edge slip through his hands at short fine-leg and his skipper gave him a chance to redeem himself with the ball. When the medium-pacer conceded 11 runs, the heavens opened to give him and his team some respite.
They slowed down the scoring and claimed five more wickets to leave the Kings on 132 for 8 at the end of the 19th.
Then, Wiese intervened and gave his side the psychological boost that propelled Pierre and company to rip the top order to shreds.
The Kings, second on the table with eight points from six games, have two matches against top-half-of-the-table opposition in three days next week.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/ CPL T20 via Getty Images
They take on current table-toppers Barbados Royals in Providence next Sunday and then the Trinbago Knight Riders at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Republic Day in Trinidad on Tuesday.
Today’s win eases the pressure on them to make the top four since one more win will put them beyond both ABF (4 pts from 8 games) and the Patriots (2 pts from 7 games), both of whom can now only leapfrog them on the basis of net run-rate.
Before that, the Falcons must beat TKR at the Queen’s Park Oval on Thursday to keep their 2024 campaign alive.
Photo: Ashley Allen – CPL T20/ CPL T20 via Getty Images
They will need to play as well as they have at any point this season to reproduce their upset win over Kieron Pollard’s four-time champions who will doubtless be aiming to avenge the stinging defeat with a convincing win.
And with that all-important top-two qualification riding on it…
Summarised scores
Toss: Antigua and Barbuda Falcons
Saint Lucia Kings: 152 for 8 (20 overs) David Wiese 43*, Ackeem Auguste 35, Johnson Charles 25; Chris Green 4/22, Shamar Springer 3/19
Antigua and Barbuda Falcons: 126 for 8 (20 overs) Chris Green 48, Shamar Springer 24; Khary Pierre 3/24, Noor Ahmad 2/13
Man-of-the-Match: Khary Pierre
Result: St Lucia Kings win by 26 runs
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | No result | Points |
| 1 | BR | 5 | 4 | 1 | — | 8 |
| — | ||||||
| 2 | SLK | 6 | 4 | 2 | — | 8 |
| 3 | GAW | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 |
| 4 | TKR | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 |
| 5 | ABF | 7 | 2 | 5 | — | 4 |
| 6 | STKNP | 7 | 1 | 6 | — | 2 |
Five overs to go, six wickets intact and 66 runs still needed for victory. Saint Lucia Kings (SLK) are chasing Read more
The deed is done. The defending champions have been defeated. By six wickets. And on their third attempt—having repeatedly discussed Read more
A cricket match, a cricket sage once wrote, is played in the minds of the opposing captains. Were he writing Read more
Shimron Odilon Hetmyer warmed the West Indies bench throughout the recent T20 World Cup staged in the West Indies and Read more
The Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced a slew of changes in its player rosters today as the West Indies teams Read more
When Ramon Simmons bowled Shai Hope for 56, the Guyana Amazon Warriors had not yet overhauled the modest target set Read more
