Saint Lucia Kings laid down an imposing marker to the other three sides to make the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) playoffs as they racked up 218 runs off their twenty overs and reduced the Trinbago Knight Riders to 138/9 to win by 80 runs and remain top of the latest standings.
It could have been a heavier defeat than it was for the Knight Riders as Kings Captain Faf Du Plessis and his opening partner Johnson Charles smashed the ball to all parts in Tarouba. A 145-run opening partnership saw the ball flying to the boundary multiple times, which perhaps also explained why the first innings took over two hours to complete.
The Knight Riders were made to do plenty of leather chasing and had to wait until the thirteenth over before they could ‘celebrate’ a wicket – Charles departing for a magnificent 89 – caught by a juggling Chris Jordan on the long-on boundary off a Jayden Seales slower ball.
Du Plessis made a half-century of his own, and after he was out – caught on the leg side fence off the impressive Kieron Pollard – Tim Seifert hit 30 off 17 balls to get the Kings over 200. The Kings scoring rate did slow up towards the end, with just 45 runs coming off the last five overs.
Pollard was the pick of the Knight Riders bowlers and came to the fore admirably in the absence of Sunil Narine. 4/38 in the circumstances constituted excellent figures and meant his side had a chance of chasing down a still sizeable target.
The Knight Riders never really got close. Losing regular wickets in the first half of their innings saw them reduced to 56/6 as Noor Ahmed’s left arm wrist spin picked up the engine room of Tim David, Akeal Hossein and Andre Russell without any damage incurred.
Jason Roy stayed resolute and started to chip away at the total, but when he was brilliantly caught and bowled by Shadrack Descarte in the 14th over, and Chris Jordan was removed by David Wiese in the following over the game had gone out of sight for the Knight Riders.