St Lucia stun Guyana for maiden CPL crown

JELANI BECKLES (Reporting from Guyana)

WHAT a year 2024 has been for St Lucia in sports, as the country has now claimed a Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League title, after a 12-year wait. This year has been a memorable one after sprinter Julien Alfred won two medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics – the first medals for St Lucia in the history of the Olympics.

St Lucia Kings defeated Guyana Amazon Warriors by six wickets to silence the crowd at the Guyana National Stadium in the CPL final on October 6, denying the Guyana franchise back-to-back titles.

Kings coach Daren Sammy, who is St Lucian, has spoken highly of Alfred since her achievement in Paris in August. Sammy, arguably the most popular sports personality, along with Alfred, can now add a CPL title to his resume, along with two T20 World Cup titles as a West Indies player.

Needing 66 runs off 30 deliveries in pursuit of 139 to win, the Kings needed a productive over, and they got it in the 16th over as spinner Moeen Ali leaked 27 runs and Roston Chase and Aaron Jones went berserk.

The runs continued to flow off the bat of Chase and Jones, as the pair stepped up to the plate after prolific batsmen Faf du Plessis (21) and Johnson Charles (seven) were out cheaply.

The onslaught by Chase and Jones (who has spent most of the tournament on the bench) was too much to handle as Kings closed on 139/4 in 18.1 overs. Jones struck 48 not out off 31 balls and Chase belted 39 not out off 22 deliveries.

The Amazon Warriors had the edge before Jones and Chase took control of the contest.

Medium pacer Romario Shepherd removed Charles with only 23 runs on the board and then dismissed du Plessis as soon as the Kings skipper started to get into a groove. He was caught behind by wicket-keeper Shai Hope for 21 as Ali got the breakthrough.

Another Kings batsman needed to step up, as du Plessis and Charles had been dominant throughout the tournament.

Wickets continued to fall as Ackeem Auguste and Tim Seifert departed in quick succession to leave the Kings on 51/4 after 9.5 overs.

Jones and Chase then became the most popular athletes in St Lucia, at least for the next few hours, delivering a partnership worth 88 runs.

Earlier, it was a dream start for the Kings as left-arm spinner Khary Pierre grabbed the wicket of the dangerous Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over, caught by skipper Faf du Plessis at mid-on.

Kings kept the electric Amazon Warriors batsmen quiet in the opening overs as the home team crawled to 7/1 after three overs.

The consistent Shai Hope broke the shackles in the fifth over, hitting left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad for two fours on the off side.

The Kings would have still been the happier team, as after five overs Amazon Warriors were 23/1.

Moeen Ali joined in the fun in the sixth over with a beautifully timed cover drive for four off Alzarri Joseph.

Pierre, a former Trinbago Knight Riders player, kept the batsmen at bay with figures of 1/13 in his first three overs.

The pressure by Pierre led to the wicket of Hope in the next over, as the right-hander was bowled by off spinner Roston Chase trying to clear the boundary on the leg side. Hope's contribution was 22 off 24 balls.

Ali followed Hope back to pavilion for a pedestrian 14 off 20 balls as he played a slog sweep straight to Johnson Charles at mid-wicket to give Ahmad the scalp. The packed crowd was now concerned as Amazon Warriors slipped to 45/3 after 8.3 overs.

Du Plessis trusted his spinners as Pierre, Ahmad and Chase all limited the batsmen and also grabbed one wicket apiece as the defending champs were playing catch-up.

Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul, teammates on the West Indies Under-19 winning team in 2016, would have been hoping to swing the match in the Amazon Warriors' favour in the second half of the innings.

However, the partnership was only worth nine, as Hetmyer was caught on the cover boundary for just 11 as Ahmad, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, grabbed another.

The Kings continued to boss the match as Kevin Sinclair was brilliantly caught by Ackeem Auguste, diving to his right at backward point.

Someone needed to put their hands up for the Warriors with the score 69/5 in the 14th over.

If those watching thought Auguste's catch was spectacular, their jaw would have dropped when they saw wicket-keeper Tim Seifert dive for a one-handed catch to dismiss Paul. Seifert did not complete the catch on the first attempt, but eventually held on as Paul walked back to the pavilion for 12 off 22 balls, not a strike rate he would have been satisfied with in a T20 match.

Dwaine Pretorius (25) and Romario Shepherd (19 not out) combined to belt four fours and three sixes in the last few overs to steer Amazon Warriors to 138/8 in 20 overs. Ahmad troubled the Amazon Warriors batsmen with 3/19 in four overs.

Summarised scores:

AMAZON WARRIORS 138/8 (20 overs) (Dwaine Pretorius 25, Shai Hope 22, Romario Shepherd 19 not out; Noor Ahmad 3/19, Matthew Forde 1/11) vs ST LUCIA KINGS 139/4 (18.1 overs) (Aaron Jones 48 not out, Roston Chase 39 not out). Kings won by six wickets.