St. Lucia Kings got their Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign up and running with a nail-biting victory against Jamaica Tallawahs in front of a raucous home crowd.
The Kings won the toss and opted to field first and they were rewarded for that decision with a disciplined performance with the ball and in the field.
The win for Kings means Guyana Amazon Warriors have dropped to the bottom of the points table, yet to record a win after two matches.
Wickets fell at regular intervals to ensure the Tallawahs were restricted to 163-8
In reply, the Tallawahs played the Kings at their own game by taking regular wickets.
Mohammed Amir’s early double wicket over rocked the Kings, but Johnson Charles’ excellent half-century (62 off 39) kept the home side in the game. There was still plenty to do when David Wiese strode to the crease, but he marshalled the chase superbly to get the Kings their first win of the tournament.
The Tallawahs had made heavy going of their innings after being inserted. They lost too many wickets in the Powerplay. Kennar Lewis, Shamarh Brooks and Rovman Powell all fell to leave the Tallawahs at 47-3 at the end of the first six overs.
When Brandon King was run out courtesy of brilliant fielding from Jeavor Royal, the Tallawahs were reeling at 62-4.
However, Imad Wasim (20 off 23) and Raymon Reifer (62 off 41) rebuilt the innings and set it up for some late over plundering in the final four overs to ensure the Tallawahs set an intriguing 164 to win.
Like the Tallawahs, the Kings innings struggled to get going in the Powerplay.
They lost four wickets in the first seven overs to leave them in disarray at 39-4, but Tim David (20 off 15) and Johnson Charles counter-attacked well to put the Kings side ahead of the game at the halfway stage of the innings.
That advantage seemed to have disappeared when both set batters were dismissed, but Roshon Primus (22 off 20) and the wily Wiese kept the Kings in the game going into the final few overs.
When Primus departed Wiese (20* off 15) guided the chase into the final over and hit the winning run to rapturous celebration in the stands. (CPL)
