St Lucia Kings (SLK) defeated Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) by 54 runs. SLK put 167/5 in 20 overs and in reply TKR only managed to go for 113/10 in 14.5 overs.
With this win Kings now topping the CPL table with 6 points whereas Knight Riders get their 1st defeat in this tournament. Both of the teams last match was washed away due to rain. SLK met St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (SNP) whereas TKR met with SNP only.
Firstly Pollard wins the toss and he opted to bowl first.
Both the openers of Kings played brilliantly. Du Plessis and Johnson Charles put 85 runs for the 1st wicket. Du Plessis again provided a solid knock and scored 57 runs in 36 balls which includes 8 fours and a six. Charles was earlier dropped by Sunil Narine but he couldn’t utilize it much better and scored 37 runs.
Sikandar Raza in the death provided some blastful shots. He scored 32 runs in 23 balls which includes 2 fours and 2 sixes. His firing innings helped his team to get par 150 runs. Therefore in 20 overs they scored 167 with the loss of 5 wickets in 20 overs.
DJ Bravo and Andre Russell get 2 wickets each while Ali Khan gets 1 wicket.
Knight Riders from the start couldn’t stabilize a solid partnership and that cost them the match. Big hitters Nicholas Pooran and Chadwick Walton got out on a duck. Skipper Kieron Pollard and Mark Deyal showed some destruction but still they couldn’t turn their innings into a big one. Pollard scored 34 runs in 15 balls. He hits 3 fours and 3 sixes. Whereas Deyal scored 33 runs which includes 4 fours and 2 sixes.
Despite those two only two more reached double digit. Andre Russell (10 runs) and Akeal Hosein (11 runs). And with regular fall of wickets they only managed to put 113 runs and lost all the wickets in 14.5 overs.
Khary Pierre spins the whole team with his left arm orthodox and gets 4 wickets. Roston Chase and Sikander Raza got 2 wickets each. Alzarri Joseph and Peter Hatzoglou got 1 wicket each.
Sikander Raza, SLK, Player of the Match
“Thought we were 10-15 short. Found tough to get going myself. We’ve got a very good attack. Great for Faf to call upon any spinner. To have a team with 5-6 all rounders and 8 bowling options.”
Kieron Pollard, TKR Captain
“I take responsibility for that (related to his dismissal). More responsibility needed to be taken at that point as well (For Pooran’s dismissal). We were too expressive. Was about trying to find the right balance. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Today it wasn’t a matter of the batting order, but taking responsibility. Need to put our heads down.”
Faf du Plessis, SLK Captain
“Happy with the result. Obviously sad I’m leaving. We felt we should have got more in the first innings. We were just saying to hold the nerve. They have guys who hit sixes. The challenge with the elbow is I have played with cortisone injections for 2 years. Have reached a stage where it’s not good for my body anymore. For me it’s always about pulling people along on the journey. Great to have guys like Chase, Charles and Raza on the field to turn to. Going to miss the SLK.”