The Saint Lucia Kings stunned the Guyana Amazon Warriors to claim their maiden Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title on Sunday night at the Guyana National Stadium in Providence. In a game that swung both ways, the Boys in Blue dug deep to win by six wickets.
Having won the toss and elected to bowl first, the Kings started exceptionally well, removing the dangerous Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the first over. They went on to restrict the Amazon Warriors to just 27 runs in the powerplay.Â
The Kings’ bowlers further crippled the innings, limiting run-scoring opportunities and frustrating the Amazon Warrior batsmen. Noor Ahmad, as he has been throughout the season, was once again the standout performer, taking 3 for 19 and finishing the tournament as the leading wicket-taker with 22.Â
Late contributions from Romario Shepherd (17) and Dwaine Pretorius (25) helped the Amazon Warriors reach a total of 138-8 in their 20 overs.
Chasing an under-par total, the Kings made a steady start, scoring 40 runs in the powerplay. However, the Amazon Warriors fought back, taking multiple wickets in the middle overs and tightening the pressure on the Kings.Â
The game seemed to be turning in the Warriors’ favor until a phenomenal 88-run partnership between Roston Chase and Aaron Jones guided the Kings home.
In a post-match interview, Jones, who hadn’t played much in the earlier tournament games, indicated that he was confident in his ability to carry the team home.
“We know playing in the final is going to be a challenge… We came out on top. I think of myself as a match-winner.”
The switch was flipped when two-time World Cup winning captain and Kings’ coach Daren Sammy sent the 12th man to chat with Jones and Chase. The duo needed 65 off 30 balls at that stage, and two huge overs handed them the initiative.
Chase was named player of the match. The victory places a bow on a historic year for Saint Lucian sports.
(QSJ)
Great now all these Indian can cash in on the winnings. For the none cricket fans…St. Lucia does not own this team…we are just the land lords! There is nothing to be a damn proud lucian about, that team is mostly foreigners.
What a heart pumping match, well done guys.
This year is saint lucia time to shine
Julien Alfred gold and silver and now the st lucia kings win of CPL 2024
Your highness Johnson Charles thank you very much
You have been most exemplary in you cricket performance
To all the kings players and staff including Daren Sammy
Congratulations to your success
Lol : and your point, what about the st. lucians on the team and the St. lucian coach (Darren) that’s something to be proud of at least congratulate the guys for job well done.
@DEZ nothing to be proud about, Darren and all the St. Lucians can be transferred to any of the other “Kings” teams owned by these Indians. Eventually St Lucian Kings may have no St. Lucians playing. All that money is not coming to St. Lucia! The Indians own everything that is Cricket in the Caribbean. They are the real Mete Bor Dah nou! 90% of Sammy’s instagram followers are Indian.
Congrats from a TKRian. Well done, well deserved!!! Mr. Sammy the man with the Midas touch. Glad you all were not beaten by any light failure or the Duckworth/Lewis method. LOL!!!!
Congratulations Lucian Kings. This crowns off a year of great achievements by Saint Lucian athletes. This is evidence that if the government invest in it’s people, they will go on to achieve great things. Now over to the government to make a commitment to sporting excellence by sparking a sporting revolution in Saint Lucia…we also need an education revolution, a scientific revolution and a cultural revolution in Saint Lucia..
@Lol. Smh, still our team. They represent the country Saint Lucia. Same way basketball teams in the US draft players from all over while being owned by investors from other countries or states.
Lol some may not know but the majority of us knows it’s a Franchise, it doesn’t matter we will STILL support it and be proud Because it carries the Lucian name and Flag colors just like Alllll the other teams named after the islands so what’s your point??? Did you say the same to the other Caribbean Islands when they won and celebrated? Did you? smh, let the fans celebrate in peace man
@lol, they play in our name and we will take whatever that comes with it, we need it given the negative environment on the ground. Many players on this team such as Faf, Alzari, Roston have been playing for St. Lucia for years. We also like to see Sammy’s progress growing and learning as a coach.
Hmmm Lol Nope not accurate players do have a say in whether or not they want to play with a team or not. And a player who is dropped from a team can be picked up by another if approached. Just like in European League football the teams are franchises sometimes owned by people who are not born in the country the team is based in. Chelsea( England piermere League team) for e.g had a Russian billionaire owner. But there are also linkages between the teams/franchises and the countries whose names,national colours, and symbols they carry on team’s clothing, gears etc. So St Lucia Kings presents a franchise tied to St Lucia and things intrinsically St Lucian. They same way in IPL (Indian Premier League) all the players are not from India, there are players from Australia, the Caribbean, etc playing for these teams when it is that time of year for the IPL, and yet still the people from the communities that these franchises represent and by extension the whole of India is proud of their team and the IPL,. It’s the same with T20 tournaments in England, Australia etc. Now back to by analogy with European football leagues/franchises the players come from all over the world not just England,orSpain or Italy, and yet still the teams whether itbe Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool etc carry the names of the places where the team is based and the people and country as a whole feel immense pride and joy knowing their area or country has the best or one of the best teams in the country, region, and by extension the world. Sounds to me likeone of the teams you were supporting did not win. Stop trying to be a party popper. Congratulations St Lucia Kings on your victory for the country whose emblems, colours, aetc you represent for your fans both locally, and abroad!!!
Lol. This country needs opportunities where their flag can be seen worldwide. Tourist travel to Lucia to watch CPL games. Some of them would come back and inspire persons from their country to visit as tourists. We also hv Lucians as coaches Sammy and John Eugene and 3 players. SO the win is a plus for St. lucia. Inidans and foreigners own everything here because the locals that hv money more interested in bldg the biggest house, hvn the most cars and young girls. Not the Indians fault that Lucians don’t invest. The only Lucian I know who invested big and Lucians can get employed sadly is Old Man Chastanent and all we do is fight him and his family down. So Indians and Syrians will own everything.
PROUD TO HV SEEN THE LUCIAN FLAG ON INTENATIONAL TV.
@Lol… Hmmm, Nope not accurate players do have a say in whether or not they want to play with a team or not. And a player who is dropped from a team can be picked up by another if approached. Take for e.g in the European Football leagues the teams are franchises sometimes owned by people who are not from or born in the country the team is based in Chelsea (England piermere League team) for e.g had a Russian billionaire owner. But there are also linkages between the teams/franchises and the countries whose names, national emblems, and colours they carry on team’s clothing, gears etc. So St Lucia Kings presents a franchise which is tied to St Lucia and things intrinsically St Lucian. The same way in IPL (Indian Premier League) all the players are not from India, there are players from Australia, the Caribbean etc. playing for these teams when it is that time of the year for the IPL , and yet still the people from the communities that these franchises represent and by extension the whole of India is proud of their team and the IPL. It’s the same with T20 tournaments in England, Australia etc. Now back to my analogy with European football leagues/franchises, the players also come from all over the world not just England, Spain, Italy and yet still the teams whether it be Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool etc. carry the names of the places where the team is based and the people and country as a whole feel immense pride and joy knowing their area or country has the best or one of the best teams in the country, region, and by extension the world. Sounds to me like one of the teams you were supporting did not win. Stop trying to be a party-popper. Congratulations St Lucia Kings on your victory for the country whose emblems, colours,etc you represent, your fans both here and abroad are immensely proud!!!
There is always a cook to spoil a broth. We Lucians are well aware of of the composition of the team and choose to support them because they carry our name and we, not any other country benefit from all the successes they achieve. If the foreign players were like this spoiler, they would only play for their home team.
See how Chase wrapped himself in our flag like he were a st lucian? I feel damn proud of that! Feel the pride, im happy very happy.