RBCPL24: Charles reigns as St Lucia Kings lord it over Royals again

Before Saint Lucia Kings’ second game in as many days versus Barbados Royals at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence earlier on Sunday, the highest total after three games on the turning surface was the 137 scored by home team Guyana Amazon Warriors on Friday night.

Putting it kindly, the batsmen, both regional and international, have looked out of their depth at Providence—except for special innings from Moeen Ali and the Guyanese pair of Shimron Hetmyer and Romario Shepherd.

In the fourth match in three days at Providence in the 2024 Republic Bank CPL season, the Kings conquered the Royals on the “slow, difficult” wicket and jumped to the top of the table with a comfortable 13-run win—their second victory over Rovman Powell’s Royals in 24 hours.

Powell got the better of Kings’ skipper Faf du Plessis for a second straight toss.

This time, the West Indies T20 captain thought better of batting first as he sent the Kings in to have first strike. Of course, Powell would not want Alzarri Joseph to run through his batting line-up on consecutive days.

The Kings, though, were prepared for the threat of Royals’ spin trio Keshav Maharaj, Maheesh Theekshana and Rahkeem Cornwall. They posted a challenging 162 for three before restricting the Royals to 149 for eight to rattle off a fourth straight victory.

Faf du Plessis’ men put on a professional display with both bat and ball—but it was their approach and intent in their turn at the crease which was really refreshing to watch.

They didn’t bizarrely shuffle around their top order like the Amazon Warriors, who opened with Raymon Reifer and promoted spinner Gudakesh Motie to number three on Saturday.

Neither did the Kings hold back their best batsmen and power players from facing the usually tough middle overs.

Their approach to the challenging surface was the conventional one, which ensures that the team’s best batsmen face the maximum number of balls in the abbreviated T20 format.

Some of the batting responsibility fell on the shoulders of Man-of-the-Match Johnson Charles, currently the leading run-scorer in the tournament’s 12-year history.

Charles’ approach in his innings of 53 from 41 balls was far different from his usual agricultural style.

The opener took measured, calculated risks which brought him many rewards and took the pressure off Ackeem Auguste (35 off 32 balls) after du Plessis (4) again fell early to Maharaj.

Du Plessis’ dismissal, stumped wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, was a carbon copy of his stumping on Saturday—a slow Maharaj turner drew him forward, dragging his back leg out of his crease before their South African countryman quickly whipped off the bails.

Charles, though, was not about to fall for the trap. The right-hander played a series of switch-hit shots (changing his grip and stance to a left-hander’s) to hit Maharaj for a four and a six over the off-side in the fourth over.

In the previous over, the 35-year-old Charles also used the switch-hit to good effect against Sri Lanka off-spinner Theekshana, hitting him for a gigantic six over the extra-cover boundary.

Charles was not swiping or slogging, he was manipulating the bowling by hitting with the wind and he was doing it effortlessly.

“The switch hit was something I had to put into my game,” Charles said at the post-match presentation, “because it’s no secret that left-armers were giving me problems.

“Going forward, to continue scoring and not be bogged down, I had to put it into my game.”

Charles reached his 20th CPL fifty in the 12th over with a massive six off Nyeem Young. He was dismissed off the very next ball as he threatened to accelerate.

“On these types of surfaces,” he said, “you understand your role changes slightly because you just have to hang around a bit and absorb some pressure until you can get going and get some runs.”

It’s fair to say Charles did his job to a T.

And as Auguste steadied the innings, the aggressive Tim Seifert (45*, 25 balls, 3×4, 3×6) added the finishing touches with a brutal display of ball-striking.

During a conversation with the television commentators at the start of the Royals’ response, Seifert said the Kings were initially targeting a total of 140.

To take the Kings well past the 140-run mark, Seifert, whose mentor is “Bazball” conceptualiser Brendon McCullum, unveiled an array of shots, which included a disdainful back-foot punch over the covers for six off Jason Holder.

When  Auguste was strategically “retired hurt” by the Daren Sammy-led Kings dugout by the end of the 18th over, they had already reached a competitive 139 for three.

Timely blows in the last two overs by Seifert and Auguste’s replacement David Wiese (11* off 5 balls) took them to 162.

The spin threat of Cornwall (0/25), Maharaj (1/31) and Theekshana (1/32) was successfully negated and, importantly, the Kings accumulated only 44 dot balls.

With the ball in hand, Alzarri Joseph and allrounder Roston Chase were not able to have their way as was the case on Saturday when they combined to restrict the Royals to 96, as Powell’s troops attacked the powerplay with vigour.

De Kock (22 off 13) and fellow opener Kadeem “The Professor” Alleyne (47, 25b, 4×4, 3×6) took the Royals to 56 inside five overs. But when a sweeping Alleyne fell to Trinidadian off-spinner Mikkel Govia (1/31) in the ninth over, the Royals’ chances disappeared into the dressing room with him

With the scoreboard reading 75 for three, the Royals needed 88 off 69 balls when Powell joined Alick Athanaze in the middle. And with potential finishers David Miller and Jason Holder to follow, they looked to still be in with a fair shout.

However, the Kings’ Afghan wizard Noor Ahmad (2/20) had his say in the proceedings.

He trapped Powell LBW for eight before he finally dismissed a frustrated Miller, whom he had tied up in knots for almost two overs, for 21 in the 16th over.

Teammates at Indian Premier League franchise Gujarat Titans, Miller must have hated net sessions against Ahmad. In the 14th over, Miller survived a pair of confident LBW calls against the left-arm spinner—successfully overturning the umpire’s out decision  on the second appeal.

In Ahmad’s last over, with Miller defending his wicket for dear  life, he offered a tentative prod at one delivery and a simple catch to du Plessis at short cover.

The Royals slipped to 118 for 5, needing 44 runs off the last four overs.

Both Athanaze (19) and Holder (16) were undone by fine death bowling by the impressive Wiese (2/17) as the Kings wrapped up a deserved win.

Losing finalists in 2020 and 2021, the Kings will hope this is finally their year. Now on 12 points at the top of the table, they have broken the tie with the Royals and the Warriors at the CPL summit.

They still have to face four-time champions Trinbago Knight Riders at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy on Tuesday morning but they will hope to pick up where they left off on Sunday when they return to Providence for their final preliminary match and the subsequent knockout phase.

This year,  Olympic sprinting crowned a new queen in the person of St Lucian Julien Alfred.

For Sammy and company and thousands of their countrymen, what could be a more fitting way to end the CPL year for St Lucia than by seeing the Kings crowned kings?

Summarised scores

Toss: Barbados Royals

Saint Lucia Kings: 162 for 3 (20 overs) Johnson Charles 53, Tim Seifert 45*, Ackeem Auguste 35; Keshav Maharaj 1/31, Maheesh Theekshana 1/32

Barbados Royals: 149 for 8 (20 overs) Kadeem Alleyne 47, Quinton de Kock 22, David Miller 21; David Wiese 2/17, Noor Ahmad 2/20, Alzarri Joseph 2/30

Man-of-the-Match: Johnson Charles

Result: Saint Lucia Kings win by 13 runs

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