Following their low score of 138 in the Caribbean Premier League 2024 championship game, the Guyana Amazon Warriors produced a bold display of ball control at Providence Stadium. Despite this, Saint Lucia Kings prevailed and won the CPL championship for the first time because of the outstanding performances of Aaron Jones and Roston Chase.
Batting was challenging on this slow and sluggish pitch in Guyana, and the Kings were having trouble halfway through the second innings. Before turning things around and sprinting to a 22-ball 39 not out, Chase was on 14 off 15 without hitting a single boundary.
Jones also started the game slowly, scoring ten runs off 19 without hitting a boundary. But in the final overs, he delivered crucial blows with the bat and finished undefeated on 48 off 31. In their 88-run partnership off 50 balls, Jones and Chase combined to smash four fours and six sixes, helping the Kings cross the mark in 18.1 overs.
Faf du Plessis and Johnson Charles combined for three fours, but the Kings could not get off to an easy start in the chase. Romario Shepherd bowled Charles for seven from ten, but the bowler departed the pitch immediately, seemingly due to a side injury.
Du Plessis struck a six off Moeen Ali in the sixth over, but the Kings could only muster 40 runs in the powerplay. Following the Kings captain’s dismissal by Moeen for a run-a-ball 21, Kevin Sinclair bowled Ackeem Auguste. After ten overs, Tim Seifert was reduced to 51/4 after being trapped in front by Dwaine Pretorius, putting the Kings in even more danger.
Amazon Warriors maintained their tight grip, as the needed rate surpassed 13 after the 15th, despite Chase and Jones’ inability to locate the boundaries. In the 16th over, Jones and Chase attacked Moeen, needing 66 off 30 balls.
Before Chase blasted two maximums and two fours, Jones led off with a six. The 27-run over relieved a lot of strain on the Kings hitters. After the two took their partnership above 50, Jones increased the stakes by hitting two sixes and a four in a 20-run over off Pretorius, reducing the score to 19 off 18.
After returning to the pitch, Shepherd was handed the ball for the eighteenth over. However, he could not stop Jones, who smashed a six, a four, and a few wides as the USA batsman amassed eighteen runs off the over to tie the game.
Jones was declared LBW by Tahir, but he overturned the ruling using the DRS. However, Tahir’s broad gave the Kings the winning run; therefore, he could not reach fifty.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz, an aggressive batsman, gave the Amazon Warriors an early scare in their innings when he blasted a full toss from Khary Pierre to mid-on, leaving them without a run in the first over after being summoned to bat.
Brief scores: Saint Lucia Kings 139/4 in 18.1 overs (Aaron Jones 48*, Roston Chase 39*, Kevin Sinclair 1-5, Dwaine Pretorius 1-25) defeated Guyana Amazon Warriors 138/8 in 20 overs (Dwaine Pretorius 25, Shai Hope 22; Noor Ahmad 3-19, Matthew Forde 1-11) by six wickets.