Saint Lucia Kings won their maiden CPL (Caribbean Premier League) by defeating Guyana Amazon Warriors at Providence Stadium. Following their low score of 138 in the Caribbean Premier League 2024 final game, the Guyana Amazon Warriors produced a valiant display of ball control at Providence Stadium. Despite this, the Saint Lucia Kings prevailed and won the CPL championship for the first time because of the outstanding performances of Aaron Jones and Roston Chase.
Batting wasn’t easy on this slow and sluggish pitch in Guyana, and the Kings were having trouble halfway through the second innings. Before turning things around and sprinting to a 22-ball 39 not out, Chase was on 14 off 15 without hitting a single boundary. Jones started the game slowly as well, scoring 10 runs off of 19 without hitting a boundary. But in the final overs, he delivered crucial blows with the bat and finished undefeated on 48 off 31. In their 88-run partnership off 50 balls, Jones and Chase combined to smash four fours and six sixes, helping the Kings cross the mark in 18.1 overs.
Faf du Plessis and Johnson Charles combined for three fours, but the Kings could not get off to an easy start in the chase. Romario Shepherd bowled Charles for 7 off 10, but the bowler left the field right after, seemingly due to a side injury. In the sixth over, Du Plessis struck a six off Moeen Ali, but the Kings were only able to muster 40 runs in the powerplay. Following the Kings captain’s dismissal by Moeen for a run-a-ball 21, Kevin Sinclair bowled Ackeem Auguste. After 10 overs, the Kings were in more danger, reduced to 51/4 after Tim Seifert’s dismissal.
Amazon Warriors maintained their tight grip, as the needed rate surpassed 13 after the 15th over, despite Chase and Jones’ inability to locate the boundaries. In the 16th over, Jones and Chase attacked Moeen, needing 66 off 30 balls. Before Chase blasted two maximums and two fours, Jones led off with a six. The 27-run over relieved a lot of strain on the Kings. After the two took their partnership above 50, Jones increased the stakes by hitting two sixes and a four in a 20-run over off Pretorius, reducing the required runs to 19 off 18.
After coming back to the pitch, Shepherd was handed the ball for the eighteenth over. However, he was unable to stop Jones, who smashed a six, a four, and a few wides as the USA batsman amassed eighteen runs off the over to level the game. Jones was given LBW on the bowling of Tahir, but he overturned the ruling using the DRS. However, Tahir’s wide gave the Kings the winning run; therefore, he was unable to reach fifty.
Earlier, after being summoned to bat, the Amazon Warriors suffered an early setback in their innings when the aggressive Rahmanullah Gurbaz smacked a full toss from Khary Pierre to mid-on, leaving without scoring in the first over. Shai Hope hit a couple of boundaries, but the Kings bowlers held it tight in the powerplay, with the Amazon Warriors scoring only 27/1 in the first six overs. Hope ultimately fell for a 24-ball 22, dragging Chase’s delivery into the stumps. Shimron Hetmyer hit a six-off Chase, but Moeen was bowled by Noor Ahmad soon after, leaving the Amazon Warriors at 49/3 midway through the innings.
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Noor then claimed the crucial wicket of Hetmyer, who cut the ball to deep point but caught and departed for 11. Sinclair hit a couple of boundaries off Khary Pierre, who finished with an economical figure of 1-21. Matthew Forde took Sinclair’s wicket, while Keemo Paul and Raymon Reifer were dismissed by Alzarri Joseph and Noor, respectively. The Amazon Warriors reached 100 runs only in the 18th over, but the next two overs were fruitful for the batting squad, yielding 36 runs as Pretorius and Shepherd got some big hits to help the team finish close to 140, which eventually proved insufficient.
Guyana Amazon Warriors 138/8 in 20 overs (Dwaine Pretorius 25, Shai Hope 22, Noor Ahmad 3-19, Matthew Forde 1-11)
Saint Lucia Kings 139/4 in 18.1 overs (Aaron Jones 48*, Roston Chase 39*, Kevin Sinclair 1-5, Dwaine Pretorius 1-25)
