The Saint Lucia Kings will face the Guyana Amazon Warriors in Qualifier 1 on Wednesday, with a direct spot in the finals of this year’s Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League up for grabs at Providence in Guyana.
The Kings’ playoff fate was confirmed following the September 29 fixture between the Trinbago Knight Riders and the Amazon Warriors, where the Guyana-based franchise prevented TKR from surpassing the Kings’ net run rate, thereby securing their place in the Qualifier.
During the league stage, the Kings won seven of their ten matches. Saint Lucian Johnson Charles has been a standout with the bat, amassing 366 runs, only behind the Barbados Royals’ Quinton de Kock and the Trinbago Knight Riders’ Nicholas Pooran.
Star spinner Noor Ahmad has been a talisman with the ball, leading the team with 18 wickets.
The Kings’ opponent in the Qualifier will present a strong challenge.
The reigning champion Amazon Warriors, who convincingly defeated the Kings in both group-stage matches, will have the advantage of playing in front of their home supporters at a raucous Providence Stadium.
The Amazon Warriors have historically excelled on their home turf, with spinners Imran Tahir and Gudakesh Motie expected to play significant roles due to the spin-friendly conditions.
In a pre-playoffs press conference, Kings captain Faf du Plessis expressed elation at his team’s performance in closing out the group stage and noted that he was looking forward to a stellar display in the knockout phase.
“Obviously, your first objective is making the semis, but then on top of that is to try and make that top two teams as it creates a little bit of an easier entry into that final. So it was a huge achievement for us to make sure we wanted to get to that top two,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the game in two days’ time.”
Du Plessis further opined that the “Juju Effect” initiated by Julien Alfred’s Olympic medal wins and his team’s performances in the tournament thus far can propel the team to claim a coveted CPL title.
“We felt that when we were in Saint Lucia as well, there’s a real optimism around obviously her performances and proud of everything she’s achieved. But also the cricket that we have been playing. I think this has been, as far as the Saint Lucia Kings season has gone, it’s been the most wins we’ve had in a round of 10 games. So we are proud of that. So as the other [three captains] sitting here, very motivated to make sure that we go all the way.”
The Saint Lucia franchise has only ever won as many as seven games once, in 2020. Then, known as the Zouks, they made it all the way to the finals, where they lost to the home team, TKR.
(Story updated)
