Superb Wiese (34* and 5-39) spurs St. Lucia Kings to CPL final
SUMMARY: St. Lucia Kings 205-4 from 20 overs (Mark Deyal 78 off 44, Tim David 38* off 17, Roston Chase 36 off 21, David Wiese 34* off 21; Sunil Narine 1-12, Akeal Hosein 1-27, Khary Pierre 1-51, Ravi Rampaul 1-56) vs Trinbago Knight Riders 184 all out in 19.3 overs (Sunil Narine 30 off 17, Denesh Ramdin 29 off 26, Colin Munro 28 off 23, Kieron Pollard 26 off 13, Darren Bravo 25 off 16; David Wiese 5-39, Keemo Paul 2-21, Wahab Riaz 2-35)
A new champion would be crowned in the Hero Caribbean Premier League 2021 after a superb all-round effort from David Wiese spurred St. Lucia Kings to Wednesday’s final.
Wiese first clobbered 34 not out off 21 balls in Kings’ commanding 205-4 and then picked up 5-39, his second five-wicket haul of the season, as defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders were dismissed for 184, losing by 21 runs.
The Kings now await the winner of the second semi-final between Guyana Amazon Warriors and St. Kitts Patriots later on Tuesday to know who would be their opponent in the championship game.
Batting first, Kings’ middle-order went berserk after openers Rakheem Cornwall (0) and Andre Fletcher (4) failed to fire.
Mark Deyal, at number three, was the man to take the attack to the Knight Riders bowlers, dominating a second wicket partnership of 73 in 6.4 overs with skipper Fletcher.
The diminutive left-hander raced to his maiden T20 fifty in quick time, eventually finishing on 78 off 44 balls (5x4s, 6x6s).
Roston Chase, the tournament’s leading runscorer, was fluent with 36 off 21 balls (2x4s, 2x6s), before Wiese and Tim David closed the innings with an unbroken partnership of 75 from 34 balls.
Both batsmen struck four sixes apiece, with David ending on 38 off 17 and Wiese 34 off 21.
With the exception of Sunil Narine (3.00) and Akeal Hosein (6.75), all the other Knight Riders bowlers went at over 12 runs per over.
In reply, Knight Riders threatened to take down the target, racing to 66-1 by the end of the Powerplay and eventually reducing the target to 107 off the final 10 overs with seven wickets in hand.
However, Kings held their nerves at the backend with regular wickets, led by Wiese, the South African who now plays for Namibia.
While Wiese’s five wickets and blistering knock earned him the Man-of-the-Match award, Pakistan left-armer Wahab Riaz bowled well at the ‘death’, claiming 2-35, while Guyanese Keemo Paul closed out the game with a double blow to finish with 2-23.
Alzarri Joseph was also effective upfront, returning figures of 1-24 off his quota of four overs.
What they said (Quotes by ESPNcricinfo)
David Wiese, Man-of-the-Match: “We wanted to play off the spinners and then take them on with the bat. David has been great all season. In this game, you sometimes don’t bowl well but get rewards and sometimes you bowl well but don’t get rewards. I got lucky, perhaps. We know Pollard is phenomenal. We knew if we miss the mark, he will punish you. But Fletcher asked me to tie him up. Unbelievable that we are in the final.”
Kieron Pollard, losing captain: “We didn’t think that score was too big, but got to give credit and congratulations to them. Very proud of the boys. I thought we gave them couple extra runs. But over the tournament the guys have been fantastic. Rampaul was good to come back in the CPL. Hosein did well. That’s all you want, want to see decent, good cricket.”
Andre Fletcher, winning captain: “We really want to go over the line this season. Deyal took the attack to them, and that set them back. We knew they were flat and I told him not to give up. I did not get the runs I wanted. When I got out, I was praying that the other batters can take us through. In the time out, Sammy said we were doing well and that we just need to get the run rate back a bit. The most important thing we tried to do was get the run-rate as high as we could before Pollard would come in. I’m humble, I’m happy. Happy knowing coaching staff believe in me and the players have faith in me. Want to win the championship.”
