Caribbean: Saint Lucia Kings secured a 54-run victory over Trinbago Knight Riders in the ninth match of the 2023 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
The match was held on August 26, 2023, at the Warner Park Sports Stadium, St Kitts and Nevis. Saint Lucia Kings secured their second victory in the CPL 2023.
The match started with the batting of Saint Lucia Kings. The toss was won by Knight Riders, and they chose to field first. The amazing partnership of Faf du Plessis and Sikandar Raza scored a substantial 167/5 after 20 overs.
Trinbago Knight Riders struggled to chase the score due to the spin bowling of Khary Pierre, Roston Chase, and Sikandar Raza. They frequently lost their wickets and were bowled out for 113, falling 54 runs short of the target.
Openers Faf du Plesis and Johnson Charles played the inning of 85-run and provided the perfect platform for Saint Lucia Kings. du Plessis reached his half-century from just 33 balls before losing his wicket to an Andre Russell delivery.
Trinbago Knight Riders would then frustrate Saint Lucia Kings as their variation of bowlers kept the runs down, before Sikandar Raza led a counter-attack, scoring four boundaries before departing for 32.
Dwayne Bravo and Ali Khan would bowl superbly at the end of the innings, combining to concede just 11 runs and taking three wickets across the final two overs, as the Saint Lucia Kings set a target of 168 to win.
While losing the early wickets of Martin Guptill, Chadwick Walton, and Nicholas Pooran in the powerplay, Knight Riders faced huge setbacks.
Captain Kieron Pollard would provide a destructive cameo as he scored 34 off 15 balls and ensured they stayed ahead of the run rate, but wickets continued to fall, leaving the Knight Riders 86-6 after ten overs.
Saint Lucia Kings continued to utilize spin effectively; Khary Pierre was the pick of the bowlers, taking four wickets for 20 runs as the Knight Riders were dismissed for 113.
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