Roston Chase got 80 off 50 balls on a slow-damp surface. For Chase, the pitch didn’t matter as he started off with two consecutive sixes.
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A one-man-show by Roston Chase (85 of 50) helped the St Lucia Kings with the bat on a challenging surface who defeated the Guyana Amazon Warriors by 51 runs. St Lucia set a target of 149 in their 20 overs. In reply, the Warriors got bowled out for 98. The Kings’ bowlers combined to rip through the Amazon Warriors’ top order. The chase got away from them even before the powerplay ended. Eventually, the win for Kings helped them climb from the bottom of the table.
The @SaintLuciaKings win by 51 runs to claim their second victory of #CPL21 #CricketPlayedLouder #SLKvGAW pic.twitter.com/f0o2iSqlmE
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 2, 2021
Kings left Rahkeem Cornwall out so that Faf du Plessis can open alongside Andre Fletcher, which was an experiment to play more prudent cricket on slow surfaces. However, both Fletcher and du Plessis fell in the second over, trying to take on Romario Shepherd who ended up taking his third consecutive three-wicket haul of the tournament.
But for Chase, the pitch didn’t matter. He started off with two consecutive sixes against Chandrapaul Hemraj in the third over. Chase’s clarity in picking the right balls to attack at the right moment helped them dominate the third-wicket stand alongside Mark Deyal. Anyhow, Deyal struggled for his 20 in a 74-run stand.
A pure STRIKE from Roston Chase is our @OmegaXL hit from match 13. #CPL21 #SLKvGAW #CricketPlayedLouder #OmegaXL pic.twitter.com/shHSuWhIsN
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 2, 2021
A 51-run stand for the fourth wicket with Tim David (15 off 16) followed for Chase, who continued to appear like he was batting on a different surface. He managed to hit six fours and seven sixes before falling in the penultimate over as Kings had a mini collapse – Odeon Smith taking Deyal, David and Smit Patel – towards the end. An Alzarri Joseph cameo for 12 off 6 took them to 149 for 7 at the end.
Kings began their defence with Jeavor Royal’s left-arm spin. Unlike Amazon Warriors, who went for pace for the rest of the powerplay. It began with Obed McCoy bowling an awkward short length to Mohammad Hafeez, getting him to knick it to the keeper. Alzarri Joseph then wrapped up Hemraj in the channel before getting him to hit a bouncer out to deep square.
Shoaib Malik came in at No. 3 and was similarly tucked up by McCoy’s length, steepness and angle. In fourth over, he was walking back to the pavilion. Edging the ball to the keeper like Hafeez did. At the end of the powerplay, du Plessis went to Kesrick Williams, who got one to grip on Brandon King and had him chop one to short third man. Amazon Warriors were 16 for 4 at the end of the powerplay.
And it could have gotten a lot worse than that. Du Plessis kept Joseph on in a bid to separate Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer. Pooran hit a six and a four off that very over and for a brief time, Amazon Warriors got some stability. From one end, anyway, Hetmyer struggled to find any timing during his 21-ball stay for 9. Pooran took off, hitting five sixes during his 26-ball 41, but he couldn’t get deep. After Hetmyer was run out, Royal trapped Shepherd in front to leave Amazon Warriors 65 for 6.
Chase then came back and hurried Pooran on the pull to have him caught at long-on. In the end, it was just a mere formality. Smith showed spark with the bat, hitting McCoy for two of his four sixes, but he was batting with No. 11 Imran Tahir for the most part and it wasn’t destined to be a long innings.
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