The St. Lucia Kings fought tooth and nail under gloomy skies at Providence to clinch their maiden CPL title against the Guyana Amazon Warriors in what turned out to be a low-scoring encounter.
Playing in front of a sold-out Providence National Stadium in their seventh Republic Bank CPL Final, the Guyana Amazon Warriors lost the toss and were sent in to bat amid frequent lightning and overcast conditions.
The Kings decision seemed justified as the Warriors got off to their slowest start of the campaign, recording only three runs from the first two overs while losing Rahmanullah Gurbaz for a two-ball duck.
In fact, after Gurbaz’s departure, Shai Hope and Moen Ali found the going tough and only managed 27 from the powerplay as Khary Pierre, Alzarri Joseph, and Matthew Forde made life tough for the batsmen.
Life after the powerplay did not seem to improve for the Warriors as the in-form Shai Hope was bowled by a half-tracker from Roston Chase for a 24-ball 22.
Ali then proceeded to dump a half-hearted pull in the chest of Johnson Charles off the bowling of Noor Ahmad to leave the Warriors on 45/3 in the 9th over for a laboured 20-ball 14. The Warriors crawled to 49 by the end of the 10th over as Hetmyer and Keemo Paul attempted to consolidate.
However, it took the extraordinary efforts of Romario Shepherd and Dwaine Pretorius to drag the Warriors to a respectable 138/8 from their allotted 20 overs.
Pretorius struck a brace of fours and sixes during his knock of 25 from 12 balls, while Shepherd remained unbeaten on 19 from 9 balls, inclusive of two fours and a six.
While the capacity stadium enjoyed a halftime show, the Warriors were plotting, and they came out recharged, keeping the ominous pair of Johnson Charles and Faf du Plessis quiet.
They would consequently depart cheaply; Charles, the first victim, was bowled by Shepherd for a 10-ball seven, while du Plessis was caught behind off of Moen Ali for a run-a-ball 21. The dismissals of Ackeem Auguste and Tim Seifert one over apart did leave the Kings in a precarious position.
From there on, it was the Aaron Jones show. The American, following a dismal start where he struggled with his timing and shot-selection, unleashed a barrage alongside the dependable Roston Chase to break the back of the chase, following a scoring requirement that reached 13.
The duo was scoring in excess of 21 runs as they coasted to victory and silenced the capacity crowd that had started exiting the facility after witnessing the writing on the wall.
Chase ended unbeaten on 39 while Jones smashed two fours and four sizes during his 48 not out to guide the St. Lucians home. The victory was eventually claimed in the most anti-climatic manner following a wide from Amazon Warriors captain Imran Tahir.
