FORDE AND POORAN TAKE KINGS TO VICTORY
Saint Lucia Kings finished off their home leg of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a six wicket win at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground over the Jamaica Kingsmen.
Kamil Pooran’s unbeaten 81 and Matthew Forde’s five wicket haul ensured the Kings gave their fans a complete performance as the CPL bid farewell to Saint Lucia for another season. Obus Pienaar, on his first start this season, partnered Pooran with a winning partnership worth 57.
Matthew Forde lit up the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground with a scintillating three over spell inside the PowerPlay, taking four wickets and leaving the Kingsmen’s top order in tatters. Usman Khan had provided some resistance in the opening overs, with a cameo of 28 off 11 balls before he became Forde’s second victim.
Just one ball later, Forde had another one as captain Rovman Powell looked to run it down to third, but straight into the welcome hands of Maheesh Theekshana. A delivery that thundered off the pads of Hassan Khan and squirted out into the offside, was given not out by the umpire. But Forde was adamant that captain Roston Chase send it upstairs for a look and he was spot on as Khan was caught plumb in front.
From there wickets continued to fall as Joshua Bishop and Theekshana getting in on the action. Shadley van Schalkwyk had also claimed the first wicket of the innings. Keacy Carty saw multiple partners come and go but he stuck around and proved to be the backbone of the Kingsmen’s innings. His half century was crucial in giving the Jamaican side a platform to build towards a competitive total. His wicket would eventually hand Forde his five-for but he had already put his stamp on the match.
Andre Russell and Odean Smith provided 52 runs between them as they partnered with Carty but never with each other. The Kingsmen did well to get to 169 for 9 but the constant flow of wickets left them feeling short on a good batting pitch.
The Kings seemingly had learned lessons from their previous matches and came out with a revised approach. Seeing how the Kingsmen had lost early wickets in bunches, they opted for conservative tactics and finished the PowerPlay under 40 for the first time in the competition.
But the Kings kept within striking distance throughout the innings despite some tidy bowling from Vitel Lawes and Hunain Shah. There was a sense that as long as Kamil Pooran was there, the Kings were on top. When Obus Pienaar walked out at number six, Pooran found a reliable partner as Pienaar had has radar set on the boundary, exercising a similar controlled aggression as his partner.
The penultimate over unravelled for the visitors as the Kings needed a run a ball off the last two overs. After a two from the first ball, Pooran launched a full toss into the stands for six before Hunain lost his way hurling the ball way down the leg side for five wides which sealed the victory for the Kings.
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