St Lucia Kings hand Falcons 4th straight CPL loss

St Lucia Kings got their second win in as many matches to start the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign when they got a comfortable seven-wicket victory against home team Antigua and Barbuda Falcons at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua on September 3.

The Falcons, who replaced three-time champions Jamaica Tallawahs ahead of the 2024 season, were dealt a fourth straight loss to start the tournament and they were well behind the eight ball after posting a modest score of 142 for seven against a Kings team which is coached by West Indies white-ball coach Daren Sammy.

The Falcons got a top-score of 36 from 26 balls from opener Justin Greaves, with the Pakistani pair of Fakhar Zaman (21 off 17 balls) and Imad Wasim (29 not out off 23 balls) being the only other players to get past the 20-run mark.

The Falcons innings never really got off the ground, and they were stifled by 19-year-old Afghan left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad who had brilliant figures of three for 18 as he spun his way to the Man of the Match award.

Four other Kings bowlers took a wicket apiece, including former Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) player Khary Pierre.

The Falcons attack was blitzed to all parts of the North Sound venue in their loss to Barbados Royals on September 1, and the Kings batsmen followed suit as they raced to the 143-run target with three overs to spare.

West Indies opener Johnson Charles top-scored with 47 not out off 46 balls, with captain Faf du Plessis (28 off 15 balls), Ackeem Auguste (27 off 20 balls) and an aggressive Tim Seifert (26 not out off 11 balls) all chipping in nicely.

After the dismissal of emerging player Auguste in the 15th over, a no-nonsense Seifert, who was a late addition to the team for South African wicket-keeper/batsman Heinrich Klaasen, put the exclamation point on an emphatic performance when he smashed pacer Mohammad Amir for a four and three sixes in the 17th over to get his team over the line.

Currently rooted to the foot of the table, the Falcons will hope for an improvement in their fortunes at North Sound on September 5 when they face a TKR team which scored a mammoth 250 runs in their 2024 CPL opener on August 31.

Summarised Scores:

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA FALCONS: 142/7 from 20 overs (Justin Greaves 36, Imad Wasim 29 not out, Fakhar Zaman 21; Noor Ahmad 3/18) vs ST LUCIA KINGS: 144/3 from 17 overs (Johnson Charles 47 not out, Faf du Plessis 28, Ackeem Auguste 27). St Lucia Kings won by seven wickets.