BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – South African Faf du Plessis struck a half-century and Khary Pierre followed up with a four-wicket haul as St Lucia Kings trounced Trinbago Knight Riders by 54 runs, to win their second game and go top of the Caribbean Premier League here yesterday.
In the first game of a doubleheader at Warner Park, du Plessis’s 57 from 36 deliveries propelled Kings to 167 for five from their 20 overs, opening partner Johnson Charles chipping in with 37 and 31 balls and Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza, 32 from 23 balls.
TKR then raced to 82 for three in the eighth over to be well poised in the chase before 31-year-old Pierre dismantled the middle order with a spell of four for 20, to leave the innings in ruins at 113 all out in the 15th over.
Captain Kieron Pollard struck a 15-ball 34 and opener Mark Deyal belted a 19-ball 33 but TKR lost their last six wickets for just 31 runs in quick time.
With the win, King moved to six points, a point clear of unbeaten Jamaica Tallawahs, with TKR bottom of the table with a single point from two games, following a washout in their opener.
Sent in, du Plessis laid the foundation for the total, punching eight fours and a six to inspire an 85-run opening stand with Charles who counted a four and three sixes.
When du Plessis perished in the 10th, Charles helped add a further 23 with Bhanuka Rajapaksa (15) who then put on 49 for the third with Raza, to keep Kings going at the back end.
In reply, Deyal blasted four fours and a couple of sixes, in a 33-run, opening partnership with New Zealander Martin Guptill (7).
When Guptill, Chadwick Walton (0) and Nicholas Pooran (0) fell in the space of 11 deliveries with eight runs added, Pollard combined with Deyal in a 41-run, fourth wicket partnership in an attempt to rescue the chase.
The turning point came when Pollard smashed the final delivery of the eighth over from Man-of-the-Match off-spinner Raza (2-32) to Pierre at long on and Deyal was hit in front by Australian leg-spinner Peter Hatzoglou, two balls into the next over, without a single run added.
