The Saint Lucia Kings have qualified for this year’s Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) finals, defeating the Guyana Amazon Warriors in a rain-affected match at Providence Stadium in Guyana on Wednesday.
The Kings blasted their way to 69 runs during the powerplay, buoyed mainly by a brutal innings from Saint Lucia’s Johnson Charles.
Charles went on to score 79, silencing the raucous Guyanese crowd in the early overs.
The Amazon Warriors eventually broke the stellar 124-run opening stand between Charles and captain Faf du Plessis (57).
Roston Chase, Tim Seifert, and David Wiese helped the Kings reach 198-5 after 20 overs.
The pick of the bowlers for the Amazon Warriors was Moeen Ali, who took 2 for 24.
With the ball, Khary Pierre, Matthew Forde, Alzarri Joseph, and Noor Ahmad combined to restrict the Warriors to 43 runs for the loss of one during the powerplay.
They continued to take wickets while severely limiting the Warriors’ scoring, until rain halted play after the 13th over.
At the stop of play, the Kings were ahead via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method. The rain continued so heavily that play could not resume, securing the Kings’ victory by 15 runs under DLS and sending them to their third CPL final.
Man of the Match Johnson Charles was ecstatic about reaching his first final with the franchise.
Although Charles had previously won the CPL with the Barbados franchise in 2019, he had never played in the final with his home team.
He expressed confidence that the team could help complete a historic year for Saint Lucian sports.
“This means a lot because for so many years we’ve been trying, and I believe this year is our year. We’ve had gold medals in track and field, and now we’re in the final,” he said. “I think we have a very good chance and it’s our year to win this.”
Kings skipper du Plessis emphasized that adaptability has been key to the team’s success this season.
“I feel like we’re a team that has adapted really well,” du Plessis said. “When you’ve done the hard yards through the season, where you haven’t always had the rub of the green but still find ways to win games, I think that confidence as a group will really stand us in good stead… We’ll adapt to whatever’s in front of us.”
The Boys in Blue now await the winner of Friday’s Qualifier 2 between the Guyana Amazon Warriors and the Barbados Royals, who will determine their opponent in the final as they strive for their maiden CPL title.
