CPL Champs
St. Lucia Kings defeated the Guyana Amazon Warriors by six wickets on Oct. 6 to silence the crowd at the Guyana National Stadium in the Caribbean Premier League final.
In pursuit of 139, Kings needed 66 runs off 30 deliveries to win, and in the 16th over, spinner Moeen Ali leaked 27 runs as Roston Chase and Aaron Jones went crazy.
The runs continued to flow from Chase and Jones, stepping up after prolific batsmen Faf du Plessis with 21 and Johnson Charles on seven were out cheaply.
The attack by Chase and Jones was magnificent as Kings closed on 139/4 in 18.1 overs. Jones struck 48 not out off 31 balls, and Chase lashed 39 not out off 22 deliveries.
West Indies’ Shai Hope in action as England’s Jos Buttler looks on during the second Test between England and the West Indies at the Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester, Britain on July 19, 2020. Michael Steele / Pool via REUTERS, File
Before Jones and Chase took control of the contest, medium pacer Romario Shepherd removed Charles with only 23 runs on the board. He then dismissed Faf du Plessis as he was caught behind by wicket-keeper Shai Hope for 21, and Ali got the breakthrough.
Wickets continued to fall as Ackeem Auguste and Tim Seifert fell quickly, leaving the Kings at 51/4 after 9.5 overs.
Jones and Chase then delivered a partnership of 88 runs.
With Guyana batting first, the Kings left-arm spinner Khary Pierre grabbed the wicket of the dangerous Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over, caught by skipper Faf du Plessis.
The Kings kept the Amazon Warriors batsmen quiet in the opening overs, and the home team crawled to 7/1 after three overs.
In the fifth over, Shai Hope broke the shackles, hitting left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad for two fours, but after five overs, Amazon Warriors were 23/1.
In the sixth over, Moeen Ali joined and smacked a delivery for four off Alzarri Joseph.
In the next over, off-spinner Chase bowled right-hander Hope, who contributed 22 runs off 24 balls.
Ali’s wicket was next with 14 off 20 balls as he played a slog sweep straight into the hands of Charles to give Ahmad the scalp. Amazon Warriors slipped to 45/3 after 8.3 overs.
Pierre, Ahmad, and Chase all limited the batsmen, grabbing one wicket apiece.
Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul’s partnership was only worth nine as Hetmyer was caught for just 11 runs, and Ahmad grabbed another wicket.
Kevin Sinclair was brilliantly caught by Ackeem Auguste, leaving the Warriors with a score of 69/5 in the 14th over.
Wicket-keeper Tim Seifert then dives to complete a one-handed catch to dismiss Paul for 12 off 22 balls.
Dwaine Pretorius, with 25, and Romario Shepherd on 19 not out, came together, smacking four fours and three sixes in the last few overs to steer Amazon Warriors to 138/8 in 20 overs. Ahmad troubled the Amazon Warriors batsmen with 3/19 in four overs.
2024 has been a great year for St. Lucia in sports. The country has now claimed the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League 2024 title after a 12-year wait. The win comes after women’s sprinter Julien Alfred won two medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics—the first medals for St. Lucia in the Olympics’ history.
Kings coach Daren Sammy can now add a CPL title to his resume and two T20 World Cup titles as a West Indies player.
