Following their low score of 138 in the Caribbean Premier League 2024 championship game, the Guyana Amazon Warriors produced a valiant display with the ball at Providence Stadium in Guyana. Despite this, Saint Lucia Kings prevailed and won the CPL championship for the first time credit to the outstanding performances of Aaron Jones and Roston Chase.
Batting wasn’t easy on the slow and sluggish pitch in Guyana, and the Kings were having trouble halfway through the second innings. Before turning things around and sprinting to a 22-ball 39 not out, Chase was on 14 off 15 without hitting a single boundary. Jones started the game slowly as well, scoring 10 runs off 19 without hitting a boundary. But in the final overs, he delivered crucial blows with the bat and finished undefeated on 48 off 31. In their 88-run partnership off 50 balls, Jones and Chase combined to smash four fours and six sixes, helping the Kings cross the mark in 18.1 overs.
Faf du Plessis and Johnson Charles combined for three fours, but the Kings could not get off to an easy start in the chase. Romario Shepherd bowled Charles for seven off ten, but the bowler left the field right after, seemingly due to a side injury. In the sixth over, Du Plessis struck a six off Moeen Ali, but the Kings were only able to muster 40 runs in the powerplay.
Following the Kings captain’s dismissal by Moeen for a run-a-ball 21, Kevin Sinclair bowled Ackeem Auguste. After 10 overs, the Kings were reduced to 51/4 after being trapped in front by Dwaine Pretorius, putting the Kings in even more danger.
In the 16th over, Jones and Chase attacked Moeen, needing 66 off 30 balls. Before Chase blasted two maximums and two fours, Jones led off with a six. The 27-run over relieved a lot of pressure on the Kings batters. After the two took their partnership above 50, Jones increased the stakes by hitting two sixes and a four in a 20-run over off Pretorius, reducing the score to 19 off 18.
After coming back to the pitch, Shepherd was handed the ball for the eighteenth over. However, he was unable to stop Jones, who smashed a six, a four, and a few wides as the USA batsman amassed eighteen runs off the over to tie the game. Jones was declared LBW by Tahir, but he overturned the ruling using the DRS. However, Tahir’s wide gave the Kings the winning run, as they enjoyed their first-ever title.
