KINGSMEN KEEP HOPES OF CROWN ALIVE
The Jamaica Kingsmen produced their best performance of the season in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Eliminator as they beat the Barbados Tridents by nine wickets at the Kensington Oval.
Maaz Sadaqat became the youngest centurion in CPL history at 21 years old as he produced a stunning 112 at the top of the order that completely took the game away from the Tridents from the start. Kirk McKenzie, his partner at the top finished 22 unbeaten as the Kingsmen steamrolled their way to Qualifier 2.
The Tridents made a bad start losing Brandon King and Kevlon Anderson through the first two overs. They sat at 2/2 after three overs and lost two more wickets by the end of the first six. At 24/4, there was a silence around the Kensington Oval as the Jamaican’s were smelling blood and the opportunity to set themselves up with a small run chase.
The Tridents’ hopes rested on Quinton de Kock, who has made this tournament look easy at times. The classy South African has lifted the Tridents out of some precarious positions this season, and his task was made even more difficult after the fall of the fifth wicket as Sherfane Rutherford was brilliantly bowled by a dazzling delivery from Saim Ayub. But de Kock did what he has done all tournament and just bided his time, ensuring he was there at the end to shape the home side’s innings.
He had the ideal partner, captain and fellow veteran Chris Green and the two got to work building a phenomenal partnership off 114 to salvage the Tridents’ innings. Together, they scored 95 runs in the back half of the innings and finished on 144/6 with de Kock sacrificing himself on the last ball. The tournament’s leading run scorer ended with another impressive 71, whilst Green got his half century striking 57 not out.
The Tridents would have been pleased with their recovery and with some momentum to defend their modest total. That momentum was quickly quashed by the Kingsmen’s opening pair of Maaz Sadaqat and Kirk McKenzie who got the chase off to a flying start. Sadaqat dominated the early rotation of strike and made good use of it, powering the Kingsmen to 79/0 at the end of the PowerPlay.
He continued to dominate the strike and motored to his first CPL half century this season in just 22 balls. Tridents’ captain Chris Green was left scratching his head with none of his bowling changes having any luck in slowing Sadaqat down. The spin that had carved through the Tridents top order earlier on, was now being pumped to all parts of the ground by the young Pakistani batter. McKenzie at the other end just had to lean on his bat and give the strike to the young man who was in the form of his life.
Sadaqat’s strike rate remained immaculate as he reached his first ever T20 century in exactly double the number of balls he had reached his half century in. He wasn’t able to finish the job off as Daniel Sams finally forced a mistake, as Sadqat skied a slower ball that Sams took himself. He departed with a sportsmanlike round of applause from the home crowd. With the Kingsmen needing one to win with 35 balls remaining, a wide from Kevlon Anderson put the Tridents out of the competition, the wide unfortunately summing up their evening.
The Kingsmen will move on to Qualifier 2 to face the loser of the Amazon Warriors and the Falcons for a place in Sunday’s final.
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