Saint Lucia Kings win maiden Caribbean Premier League title

Hyderabad: Saint Lucia Kings won their maiden Caribbean Premier League title after beating Guyana Amazon Warriors by six wickets in the final on Sunday night (local time).

Batting first, Guyana Amazon Warriors scored 138/8 in their 20 overs while St. Lucia Kings overhauled the target of 139 in 18.1 overs, losing four wickets.

Aaron Jones (48* off 31 balls, 2 fours, 4 sixes) and Roston Chase (39* off 22 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes) helped St. Lucia Kings win the title after they were reduced to a precarious 51/4 in the 10th over.

Put into bat after St. Lucia won the toss and chose to bowl, Guyana Amazon Warriors got off to a bad start losing Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the third ball of the innings.

Although Moeen Ali and Shai Hope tried to stitch a small partnership of 33 runs for the second wicket, the scoring rate was always under check as St Lucia Kings bowled with good accuracy.

Noor Ahmad was the pick of the bowlers for St. Lucia Kings as he returned with figures of 3/19 in his four overs.

Regular wickets also dented Guyana Amazon Warriors’ progress and a late surge from Romario Shepherd (19* off 9 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) and Dwaine Pretorious (25 off 12 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes) lifted the Warriors past the 135-run mark.

St Lucia Kings captain Faf du Plessis and the in-form batter Johnson Charles, who collectively scored more than 850 runs in the tournament, were out early but Chase and Jones made sure there was no twist in the tale.

St Lucia Kings captain du Plessis said it was a special team performance and was proud of how the team progressed through the tournament. “We have been really consistent throughout the league stage and I believe the two best teams played in the final. We always believed in the depth of the squad and credit to Roston and Aaron for absorbing the pressure and stepping up in the final when needed. It takes a special team performance to come here to their home ground and beat them twice. I am extremely proud of the team for showing grit throughout the tournament and getting the job done. This is our first CPL trophy and it is a great achievement,” du Plessis said.

Noor Ahmed was adjudged the player of the tournament for his 22 wickets in 12 matches while Roston Chase was awarded the player of the match award for his match winning 39 off 22 balls, along with bowling figures of 1 wicket for 13 runs.