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40-year-old Faf du Plessis led Saint Lucia Kings to their maiden Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title with a six-wicket win with 11 balls to spare against Guyana Amazon Warriors at Providence Stadium, Guyana. At one point, the game seemed to be slipping away from Kings' grasp but USA’s Aaron Jones and West Indies T20I vice-captain Roston Chase held on to their nerves and got them over the line in the penultimate over. In the bowling department, Noor Ahmad starred with an economical three-fer.
Slow start for Warriors
Earlier, Du Plessis won the toss and opted to bowl first. Rahmanullah Gurbaz departed dof ra two-ball duck to Khary Pierre. Shai Hope scored the first boundary of the innings in the third over. Warriors managed to score just 27 runs in poweprlay overs. Chase was introduced into the attack and he knocked over Hope. The opener departed after scoring 22 runs from 24 balls. Shimron Hetmyer arrived and got off the mark with a six. In the next over, Moeen Ali's troubled stay at the crease was ended by Noor. Moeen scored just 14 runs from 20 balls. At the halfway stage, Warriors were 49/3. Noor struck again to see the back of Hetmyer. He scored 11 runs from nine balls. Kevin Sinclair hit a couple of fours before losing his wicket to Matthew Forde.
Pretorius, Shepherd finish well
Meanwhile, Keemo Paul struggled to rotate strike. Paul's slow knock came to an end in the 17th over bowled by Alzarri Joseph. Paul scored 12 runs from 22 balls. Noor in his last over got another wicket by trapping Raymon Reifer in front of the wickets. In the penultimate over, Dwaine Pretorius' catch was dropped by Du Plessis. Pretorius made it count with a six and a four in the over. In the final over, Romario Shepherd hit David Wiese for a six and a four. On the fourth over ball, Pretorius hit a six before departing. He scored 25 runs from 12 balls. Shepherd remained unbeaten for nine-ball 19 taking Warriors' score to 138/8.
Warriors keep Kings quiet
Saint Lucia Kings' run chase got off to a slow start. The first boundary came in the fourth over. Shepherd got the first wicket by knocking over Johnson Charles for a single-digit score. In the sixth over, Du Plessis hit the first six of the innings. Kings were 40/1 after powerplay overs. In the eighth over, captain Du Plessis lost his wicket to Moeen. He contributed with a run-a-ball 21. In the next over, Ackeem Auguste got bowled by Sinclair. He scored 13 runs from 15 balls. The mini collapse continued as Tim Seifert got out lbw to Pretorius after scoring three runs from 10 balls. Jones would have been out for a golden duck to had it not been for DRS. Kings were 51/4 after 10 overs.
Jones, Chase finish with a flourish
No boundaries were scored in the next five overs as Jones and Chase took their time. In the last five overs, they needed 66 runs. In the 16th over, Jones targetted Moeen and hit him for a maximum. Chase joined in and hit two sixes and as many fours to take Kings' score to 100. Then, Jones got the equation more in Kings' favour with a 20-run over including two sixes and a four. In the 18th over, Jones hit another six and a four. Scores were level in the penultimate over. In the penultimate over, Kings won as captain Imran Tahir bowled a wide. Jones remained unbeaten for 48 off 31 balls. On the other end, Chase scored 39 runs from 22 balls. They shared an unbeaten 88-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
