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.
Johnson Charles‘s 40-ball 89 led the way as table-toppers Saint Lucia Kings solidified their position at the top with a big 80-run victory over Trinbago Knight Riders. Captain Faf du Plessis and his opening partner Johnson Charles formed a dream start for the St Lucia Kings at the top of the order, as the two cricketers collectively raced to 145-0 in less than 13 overs. They notched up 110 of those runs in the first 10 overs of the innings itself after being invited to bat first.
Pitch and Toss
Straight down the ground – 73 meters. 62 meters to the leg and off-side. The surface looks settled. Surface does look better than the average of 128. Won’t be too worried about batting first. The ball might skid on nicely. Slightly damp at best. A decent score can still be put on board. — Pitch report by Mr. Doull
Trinbago Knight Riders skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and opted to field with no change in the playing XI. St Lucia Kings skipper Faf Du Plessis batting first also did not made any changes in the playing XI.
Johnson Charles and Faf Du Plessis propels Saint Lucia Kings to 218 in 20 overs
Captain Faf du Plessis and his opening partner Johnson Charles formed a dream start for the St Lucia Kings at the top of the order, as the two cricketers collectively raced to 145-0 in less than 13 overs. They notched up 110 of those runs in the first 10 overs of the innings itself after being invited to bat first.
Their run-riot was eventually halted by Jayden Seales, who dismissed a well-set Johnson Charles after the explosive opener had already slapped 89 from just 40 balls with seven boundaries and eight sixes. Following the dismissal of Johnson Charles, Faf du Plessis marched on with number three Tim Seifert to form a fresh 33-run stand for the second wicket in the slog overs. The South African veteran ended up smacking a swift 59 before he was removed by his opposite number Kieron Pollard at 178-2.
Seifert made a rapid 30 off 17 balls to sustain the momentum from one end, while Pollard and co. kept disrupting SLK’s slog-overs charge from the other. The Kings eventually managed to set 218-6 upon batting first, with Pollard (4-38) claiming four wickets during the death overs.
Sent in to bat, Kings posted a formidable total of 218/6 in their 20 overs, building on a solid foundation laid by their openers Johnson Charles and Faf du Plessis. The innings began cautiously, with Akeal Hossein delivering a tight first over but the duo quickly found their rhythm. Du Plessis played the anchor role during his 43-ball 59 while Charles exploded, particularly targeting Waqar Salamkheil with three sixes in an over, en route to his 21st CPL fifty, the most by anyone in the tournament history.
Once Jayden Seales got rid of Johnson Charles and broke the 145-run opening stand, du Plessis and Tim Seifert (30 off 17) added 32 runs for the second wicket. But Kieron Pollard picked four wickets at the backend of the innings, including du Plessis’s, as Kings lost 5 wickets for 38 runs. The opening stand though held Kings in good stead even in the face of an underwhelming finish.
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 – Johnson 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 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.
Noor Ahmad starred with the ball as St Lucia Kings won by 80 runs to retain top spot
Defending 219 for a win, St Lucia Kings fast bowler Alzarri Joseph and spinner Roston Chase struck with the new ball by removing Keacy Carty and Nicholas Pooran respectively within the opening powerplay. Noor Ahmad (3-39) skittled Akeal Hossein as well as dangermen Tim David and Andre Russell in the space of his two overs as the Knight Riders crumbled further at 56-6 around the halfway stage of the innings.
Opening batter Jason Roy held one end of the crease amidst absolute mayhem at the other end by top-scoring with 41 runs from 29 balls. The dynamic Englishman shared a fighting 59-run partnership with Chris Jordan (27 off 24) to take the Knight Riders past the 100-run mark. However, Roy’s caught-and-bowled dismissal to Shadrack Descarte was followed by a two-wicket burst from David Wiese as TKR folded up for just 138 in 17.5 overs. The St Lucia Kings won the match by 80 runs to retain their top spot on the CPL 2024 standings.
However, Roy’s caught-and-bowled dismissal to Shadrack Descarte was followed by a two-wicket burst from David Wiese as TKR folded up for just 138 in 17.5 overs. The St Lucia Kings won the match by 80 runs to retain their top spot on the CPL 2024 standings.
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.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Faf Du Plessis the winning skipper said : You have to do a lot of things right (to win a game.) Charles was excellent. He (Charles) is playing his best cricket and long may it continue.. Perfect example of someone who is growing his game. We have had three day games in a row so it has been a physical and mental battle.
We are really driven as a group and we want to get ourselves in the top two. Sad to see Bravo finishing that way, he is someone I have admired for a long time. What a player, what a career and what a man (Bravo is.) Special mention to him….
Kieron Pollard the loosing skipper said : We were obviously not sure but it looked pretty serious. We are not sure if it’s going to be the end for him and we just want to thank him (Dwayne Bravo) for all that he has done for cricket. It was also a good shift for me. From a bowling perspective we have a bit of work to do. The quality of players we have, we have given them (our players) different roles and responsibilities. I’m at that stage where I am just enjoying my cricket.
Johnson Charles Player of the Match for his 89 runs said : We had a long session coming into this game and we stuck to our plans. It was about having positive intent and we did that. It was delightful coming into this game, the weather was nice and everything was good.
I have introduced it (switch hit) into my game of late. Our plan it to come out as champions. We can’t get complacent, we want to bring it out in our plans. This was dedicated to (Juju) who (recently) got the Olympic medal for us.
Saint Lucia Kings were the top placed team in the points table before this game and they continue to clinch that top spot. They are still the top ranked team in CPL 2024, and they have performed exceptionally well to take control of that top spot. TKR won the toss and elected to bowl earlier in the day, but the Saint Lucia Kings were outstanding upfront, especially in the powerplay.
Johnson Charles played a spectacular knock initially and Faf wasn’t far behind. Both the openers stitched a rollicking partnership and laid the platform for the Lucia Kings pretty early in the match. Once the Lucia Kings openers had done their job, Seifert chipped in with a cameo and the rest of their batters played handy knocks to take them over the 200-run mark.
With such a daunting total to be chased down, TKR kept losing wickets, and as a result of losing wickets at regular intervals, the Knight Riders were never in control during the chase. As a result of putting up a clinical show, the Saint Lucia Kings won nonchalant. Bravo got injured earlier in the day and the champion is in tears as he walks off. Probably the last CPL game of his carrier.