The third match of the Hero CPL Esports series was a topsy-turvy affair with the Kesrick Williams of the St Lucia Zouks emerging victorious against Sheldon Cottrell of St Kitts & Nevis Patriots after a brilliant come back with the ball.
The Zouks batted first and Cottrell controlled himself with the new ball. After a chaotic first over the St Lucian team were on 16/2 after two dropped catches, a runout, and a catch taken in the deep.
The madcap start continued within the second over with wickets falling from the first, third, and fifth balls from Alzarri Joseph to leave the Zouks 21/5.
Yet another dropped chance prevented in from being 21/6 when Daren Sammy chipped one to mid-wicket off the bowling of Sohail Tanvir. That drop seemed to be the wake-up call that the Zouks needed with Sammy finally finding the boundary with some regularity.
It was Sammy who took the Zouks to a total that they had a chance of defending with 42 (11) before he holed out looking for yet another six.
Rayad Emrit put an end to Sammy’s innings and nearly had a hattrick in the final over, a tricky chance at square leg put down by Chris Lynn to deny him.
The Zouks closed out their innings at 77/8 and the Patriots set off in pursuit with a bang. Evin Lewis ploughed into the bowling of Chemar Holder, taking 28 off the first over before being caught on the boundary going for another six.
At the other end, Chris Lynn was as explosive as his opening partner, taking 16 from five balls before he was dismissed by Obed McCoy. Lynn was soon followed by Denesh Ramdin who went for a golden duck but with the score at 45/3 and with just 33 more runs needed it looked like the Patriots were still favourites.
A stunning caught and bowled from Williams brought the Zouks back into the game with the Patriots now 55/5 with two overs to go. When that became 62/7 the Patriots were in real trouble with 15 needed off the last over.
Scott Kuggeleijn was given the responsibility of bowling the last and he didn’t let the Zouks down, conceding just 2 runs as his team won a fascinating match by 12 runs.
The full match is available to watch above and the YouTube link can be embedded into your website.