54/7 (7.4)
CR : 7.04
98/9 (19.0)
CR : 5.16
St Lucia Kings won by 3 wickets (DLS METHOD) 🏆
Player of the Match
Matthew Forde
4/2911(7)
Gous got a boundary after resumption but he got out in the same over miscuing a pull shot to Shamar Springer at mid-on. The Kings started to make a mess out of the chase with Evin Lewis dropping Ackeem Auguste at deep backward point off Seales' bowling. In the very next over, Shamar Springer came into the attack and dismissed Jewel Andrew and Auguste in the space of two deliveries. The wickets continued to tumble as Joshua James got back-to-back scalps to end the 5th over with the Kings being reduced to 21/6.
With some heavy rain reducing the chase to 15 overs initially, the St Lucia Kings were tasked with chasing down 84 runs. The Kings' skipper Roston Chase came out to open with Andries Gous but the move didn't work. Chase looked out of sorts and got out at the end of the first over splicing an easy catch to mid-on off Jayden Seales' bowling. Alzarri Joseph came to bowl the second over but rain intervened once again which meant there was a further revised target of 52 from 8 overs.
09:00 AM IST & 11:30 PM Local Time: What a shot under pressure from Joshua Bishop as he has carved the St Lucia Kings to a three-wicket over over the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons (DLS Method). The St Lucia Kings' head coach, Daren Sammy unmoved without a smile though even as his team registered their second victory of the season!
Player of the Match: Matthew Forde
Matthew Forde (POTM): "[How pleasing to get a match-winning performance] For me, it was more about the win. Getting over the line is always good. Especially against this opposition, have some good friends here as well. It is always good to have 2 points and have our campaign on the way.
[On his execution with the ball] For me, you know. I wanted to do some extra work before the meeting. I did some extra homework today and was able to get some balls on the right areas and it did something. It was all about putting the opposition under pressure, was a nice feeling.
[Does he see himself as a powerplay bowler?] For me, I see myself as a match winner. Whether it was with the ball, with the bat or in the field. I just want to have that impact on my team positively. Being an all-rounder gives me that privilege."
[On his execution with the ball] For me, you know. I wanted to do some extra work before the meeting. I did some extra homework today and was able to get some balls on the right areas and it did something. It was all about putting the opposition under pressure, was a nice feeling.
[Does he see himself as a powerplay bowler?] For me, I see myself as a match winner. Whether it was with the ball, with the bat or in the field. I just want to have that impact on my team positively. Being an all-rounder gives me that privilege."
Moeen Ali (Antigua & Barbuda Falcons Captain): "[Sum up the performance with the bat] Obviously, we were very short with the bat. I thought we didn't adapt to the conditions as well. It wasn't an easy wicket, but it was probably 120-130, kind of scrape a score. But we just didn't manage to have a partnership apart from one after the two wickets down. But disappointing.
[Feelings on the game] Obviously, now it's very disappointing when you feel like if another 20, 30 runs could have made a big difference in the Duckworth and Lewis. But I thought, I know we're going to come on to the ball, we showed amazing fight. And I think if we show that sort of fight throughout the game, we'll win more games than lose.
[Chat with the bowlers during rain breaks] Just, you never know. We have got a quality bowling attack. I think we've got, it's that sort of wicket where you need that sort of test line and length almost. And nothing special. You just got to hold your area and let them make the mistake because it was a niggly total for them. It's not easy, a few wickets, and then all of a sudden they're a bit under pressure. The pressure was off our bowlers to some extent. But we just spoke about hitting good areas and just doing the right things really. And see, get two, three wickets early and see how they cope with the pressure.
[How rain breaks changed momentum?] It probably played into our hands a little bit more than probably them because it's, you know, it was run-a-ball, we didn't have the score on the board. But the first break was probably more in our hands, I thought. Obviously, with this being a really reduced score, it's very difficult to defend. It is the first time I've seen rain in a long time. Coming from England, it's been unbelievable weather there. But, you know, it can mess things up.
But I thought our bowlers stuck to our plans really well and really proud of the way they bowled. I was saying just hold length, even if you're bowling wide. You don't have to bowl yorkers all the time, even though it's a death situation. I don't believe you don't always have to bowl yorkers. It wasn't that sort of wicket. But it's something we can learn from. I know the coaches were saying we haven't bowled that well at the death, but it's something, hopefully I can bring a bit of experience. And I don't bowl, so it's easy for me to say as well. So it's just drilling it into the side."
[Feelings on the game] Obviously, now it's very disappointing when you feel like if another 20, 30 runs could have made a big difference in the Duckworth and Lewis. But I thought, I know we're going to come on to the ball, we showed amazing fight. And I think if we show that sort of fight throughout the game, we'll win more games than lose.
[Chat with the bowlers during rain breaks] Just, you never know. We have got a quality bowling attack. I think we've got, it's that sort of wicket where you need that sort of test line and length almost. And nothing special. You just got to hold your area and let them make the mistake because it was a niggly total for them. It's not easy, a few wickets, and then all of a sudden they're a bit under pressure. The pressure was off our bowlers to some extent. But we just spoke about hitting good areas and just doing the right things really. And see, get two, three wickets early and see how they cope with the pressure.
[How rain breaks changed momentum?] It probably played into our hands a little bit more than probably them because it's, you know, it was run-a-ball, we didn't have the score on the board. But the first break was probably more in our hands, I thought. Obviously, with this being a really reduced score, it's very difficult to defend. It is the first time I've seen rain in a long time. Coming from England, it's been unbelievable weather there. But, you know, it can mess things up.
But I thought our bowlers stuck to our plans really well and really proud of the way they bowled. I was saying just hold length, even if you're bowling wide. You don't have to bowl yorkers all the time, even though it's a death situation. I don't believe you don't always have to bowl yorkers. It wasn't that sort of wicket. But it's something we can learn from. I know the coaches were saying we haven't bowled that well at the death, but it's something, hopefully I can bring a bit of experience. And I don't bowl, so it's easy for me to say as well. So it's just drilling it into the side."
Roston Chase (St Lucia Kings Captain): "[How do you describe your emotions right now?] Thankful feeling. We came here for the win and we got it. We didn't go about it in the way we wanted to execute it after bowling them out cheaply. Not an ideal way to chase a low total but we are happy for the W.
[About the bowling performance] It was a great bowling performance, we wanted to tighten up in the Powerplay. We had a great Powerplay and just wanted to keep the squeeze on. We were disciplined and we executed what we wanted to, so want to say congrats to them.
[Reason behind opening in the chase] Wanted to be aggressive early on before the rains come. In the five overs, we needed to be 30 something but didn't work. That's what possibly caused the rash shots. But with the rain delays, guys probably weren't focused a lot. It is a young team, these things happen but hopefully, we can be smarter in the longer run.
[Areas you want the team to improve in] As I told you earlier, the bowling Powerplay and we need to improve at the back-end in the batting. We are top-heavy with our batting. We need to have someone in the Top 4 or 5 staying till the 18th over to take the innings deep."
[About the bowling performance] It was a great bowling performance, we wanted to tighten up in the Powerplay. We had a great Powerplay and just wanted to keep the squeeze on. We were disciplined and we executed what we wanted to, so want to say congrats to them.
[Reason behind opening in the chase] Wanted to be aggressive early on before the rains come. In the five overs, we needed to be 30 something but didn't work. That's what possibly caused the rash shots. But with the rain delays, guys probably weren't focused a lot. It is a young team, these things happen but hopefully, we can be smarter in the longer run.
[Areas you want the team to improve in] As I told you earlier, the bowling Powerplay and we need to improve at the back-end in the batting. We are top-heavy with our batting. We need to have someone in the Top 4 or 5 staying till the 18th over to take the innings deep."
What an exhilarating game in the CPL with St Lucia Kings holding their nerve to complete a three-wicket win. It was a combination of good bowling, poor batting and also the rain making up for great theater.
Do switch over to the coverage of the Australia vs Bangladesh Test match while the 1st Test between Sri Lanka and India is also not far away. As far as the CPL is concerned, Jamaica Kingsmen will take on Trinbago Knight Riders tomorrow which will involve a lot of star power!
So, that is it from myself, Karthik Raj and my co-commentator, Ajay as we wrap up the coverage of this fixture. A note of thanks to our scorer, Ashok Dayma as well.