If a T20I match is being won by a margin of more than 50 runs, it’s humungous by the stature of the victory. And such a humungous victory was earned by St Lucia Kings in the Caribbean Premier League 2021 as they defeated Guyana Amazon Warriors by 51 runs to move away from the bottom of the table and to the fifth position.
It was Kings' second victory in four games having previously lost to Jamaica Tallawahs and Trinbago Knight Riders.
Roston Chase was the hero of the match for the Kings as he was single-handedly responsible for getting the Kings to 149 with his brilliant 85 runs coming off just 50 balls. He scored with a strike rate of more than 170, which was surprisingly brilliant as Chase is usually the anchor around whom all other players strike big. The right-hander batter hit six fours and seven sixes in his innings.
He also played a crucial role with the ball picking up the all-important wicket of Warriors skipper Nicholas Pooran who looked like the only man capable of taking the men in green and red to win.
The Warriors’ chase of 150 never got going as they lost way too many wickets early on to make a comeback. Obed McCoy struck twice in his two overs to get rid of the two Pakistani imports of the Guyana side.
With Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Malik gone, the onus fell on Shimron Hetmyer and Pooran as Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj too were dismissed by Alzarri Joseph to put Warriors under all sorts of pressure at 15-4 in the sixth over.
The two did add 47 for the fifth wicket, that too in just 38 balls, but Hetmyer’s run rate ended the partnership. Romario Shepherd couldn’t replicate his last match heroics with the bat and after Pooran’s dismissal, it was all over for the Warriors.
At 76-9, they were staring down the lowest team total in CPL history (lowest is 80 runs by Jamaica Tallawahs) when Odean Smith took control and hit an unbeaten 31 off 18 balls to take his side to 98 before Imran Tahir was bowled by Kesrick Willaims to end the match.
Chase was awarded Man of the Match for his brilliant showing. Jeavor Royal, the left-arm orthodox spinner picked three wickets for the Kings, giving away just 19 runs.
The Kings would now face the juggernaut of St Kitts and Nevis Patriots who haven’t lost a single game this season while Warriors would take on last-placed Barbados Royals.