(Cricket news) Saint Lucia Kings struck at the right time as they played their best against four time champion Trinbago Knight Riders in the semifinals of the Caribbean Premier League. They will face St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the final who beat Guyana Amazon Warriors in the second semifinal.
Saint Lucia Kings won the toss and chose to bat first which resulted in a dramatic start as Rahkeem Cornwall was sent off by Akeal Hosein in the fourth ball of the match, but that was the only setback in the match for Saint Lucia Kings as Mark Deyal kept hammering boundaries in a short period of time as Captain Andre Fletcher looked on from the non-striker end.
There was never shortage of runs as Trinbago Knight Riders could not get strikes in continuous intervals, the tournament’s leading wicket taker Ravi Rampaul leaked 56 runs as he took Fletcher’s wicket. David Wiese and Tim David further did some damage as the pair smashed 8 sixes in their partnership which helped the team get the score past the 200 run mark.
Trinbago Knight Riders also had a setback in the beginning as they lost their opener Lendl Simmons in the opening over to Alzarri Joseph, but Sunil Narine and Colin Munro kept the run rate ticking as they rebuilded the innings until Wiese removed them both in the 8th over leaving the batting line dismantled. They regained hope as Kieron Pollard smashed a few balls over the ropes as the match was still a tight contest, Wiese again took the wicket of Pollard and Wahab Riaz took the wicket of Denesh Ramdin after two overs as now they were completely helpless.
Wiese struck twice in the 19th over to secure his second five wicket haul of the season and it was all gone for the Trinbago Knight Riders as they bowed out by giving a good fight. Wiese had made contributions with the bat and the ball and rightfully won the man of the match.
Saint Lucia Kings (205/4) in 20 overs
Trinbago Knight Riders (184/ 10) in 19.3 overs
Saint Lucia Kings win by 21 runs
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots won the toss and chose to bowl against Guyana Amazon Warriors. Guyana Amazon Warriors never had a consistent batsmen in the innings as there were continuous strikes. Shimron Hetmyer was the lone batsmen who was attacking the bowlers as his cameo ensured a good score on the board.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots always looked in control as leading run getter Evin Lewis made sure his intentions were understood right from the first ball as he began smashing the bowlers all around the park and found adequate support from Chris Gayle and captain Dwayne Bravo. Lewis batted till the end with Sherfane Rutherford giving him company as St Kitts and Nevis Patriots eased into a comfortable victory.
Guyana Amazon Warriors (178/9) in 20 overs
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (181/3) in 17.5 overs
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots win by 7 wickets
