MATCH REPORT
Follow UsTim Seifert's unbeaten 16-ball 40 was not enough for a faltering Trinbago Knight Riders as St Lucia Kings bagged their first win of CPL 2021 with a narrow margin of five-runs at the Warner Park on Sunday.
After winning the toss and electing to field, Trinbago's bowlers went for big runs as Kings' openers Andre Fletcher (28 off 25) and Rahkeem Cornwall (23 off 14) added 51 runs in 5.2 overs. Ravi Rampaul then removed Cornwall with a clever slow ball while spinner Akeal Hosein got the wicket of Fletcher with an easy return catch. Rampaul then struck twice in the 10th over when he sent back Mark Deyal and Kings skipper Faf du Plessis.
The Kings seemed to be losing the plot when, Tim David (43 off 32) and Roston Chase (30 not out off 24) launched a counter attack adding 68 runs off 44 balls to help their team reach a score of 157/5 in 20 overs.
Chasing a gettable total on a good surface, Trinbago batsmen struggled in the powerplay scoring just 35 runs and losing the wicket of Tion Webster (18 off 17). The likes of Lendl Simmons (25 off 30) and Colin Munro (40 not out off 47) were unable to find scoring chances with Kings' spinners stifling the middle overs. Overall, Kings bowled 60 dot balls through out the innings which steepened the chase. With the pressure building, Simmons tried to hit Keemo Paul on the leg-side and was caught Jeavor Royal in the 13th over. Skipper Kieron Pollard was unable to counter Wahab Riaz's guile and banter as he perished in the 17th over for a score of 9 off 11 balls.
However, Tim Seifert's arrival changed the complexion of the game as the Kiwi batter began with a boundary off Wahab. With 50 needed off last 18 balls, Seifert squeezed 15 runs from Alzarri Joseph's 17th over and then smashed 21 off Keemo Paul's penultimate over. Wahab, who was given the responsibility to defend 14 off the final over, conceded a boundary off the first ball, but gave away just three singles and a wide to earn Kings their first points of the season.
The defeat was Trinbago's second from three matches so far which kept them third in the table, while Kings, despite having two points from the win, remained bottom of the CPL 2021 table behind Barbados Royals.