TKR vs SLK, Review | St Lucia Kings title defense ends after disappointing loss against Trinbago Knight Riders

‌St Lucia Kings won the toss and chose to field in hopes of restricting the Trinbago Knight Riders to a below-par score and got an early wicket in the first over of the game as Colin Munro was cleaned up by Khary Pierre. However, Nicholas Pooran took the game away from the defending champions with some fearless and aggressive strokes and ensured that his team finished the power play on a score of 61/1. Pooran continued his onslaught after the power play, while Alex Hales decided to take his time at the crease. The two had put on a 73-run stand before Roston Chase finally got the prized wicket of the Knight Riders skipper, who was dismissed straight after his half-century in the 10th over as the score read 81/2. While it seemed like the Kings would come back into the game with Pooran’s wicket and Hales struggling at the crease, Kieron Pollard took the role of the aggressor and continued the run-flow. The St Lucia franchise’s nightmare continued with Pollard continuing to dominate with his big hits and Hales rotating the strike at the other end. Both batters put on 65 runs for the third wicket, with Pollard looking set at the crease, but Hales' sluggish stay at the crease affected the scoring rate of the four-time CPL champions. As Pollard’s knock of 35 off 26 deliveries came to an end in the 17th over, the Kings were back in the game with the score reading 146/3 with three overs to go. Unfortunately for the defending champions, Alex Hales managed to hit a few maximums in the next couple of overs and brought up his half-century in 41 balls. Andre Russel also joined the party in the last over as he smacked St Lucia skipper David Wiese for 22 runs in the last over to take the Knight Riders to a big score of 194/4.

Though the score on the board was looking daunting, considering the slow and dry nature of the surface in Guyana, Tim Seifert played some attractive shots in the power play to keep the game alive. Unfortunately, he did not get as much help from the other end as Johnson Charles struggled to find his feet, with the power play ending on a score of 44/0. The struggles of the batters continued as Sunil Narine and Akeal Hosein kept the brakes on the scoring rate with two tidy overs, and Charles’ tentative stay at the crease was ended by Pollard in the ninth over. With the required rate touching over 12 and a half, the St Lucia franchise were in a tricky position at 59/1. Though the defending champions might not have had the best of starts, Seifert tried to keep the scoreboard moving, and Tim David also began to find the middle of the as well. However, as soon as the partnership started to look threatening, Usman Tariq negated the threat with two consecutive wickets in the 13th over. The 27-year-old off-spinner dismissed the Kiwi opener on a score of 57 and followed it up with a wicket of Akeem Auguste in the next delivery. Though David tried to keep his team in the game after Seifert’s dismissal, the explosive Aussie batter's knock was cut short by Sunil Narine in the 15th over. With wickets falling at regular intervals and the required rate going over 17, the ST Lucia batters' struggles continued with the score reading 108/4 with five overs to go. The situation for the defending champions did not improve at the backend, as the rest of the batters struggled to accumulate runs, and only 24 runs came in the next three overs, with the equation being 63 off the last two overs. Narine and Tariq added salt to the wounds as they got a couple of scalps each towards the end, with the team being restricted to 138/8, and won the game by 56 runs. This win ensured the Knight Riders made it to their sixth CPL final, and St Lucia's hopes of defending their title ended.

Nicholas Pooran was awarded the player of the match for his quickfire knock of 50 off just 32 deliveries.