St. Lucia Kings win CPL 2024 after a six-wicket win over Guyana Amazon Warriors
The St. Lucia Kings won the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title for the first time after a thrilling low-scoring final against the Guyana Amazon Warriors. The Faf du Plessis-led side chased down the 139-run target with 11 balls to spare at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Sunday, October 6.
After putting Guyana into bat first, St. Lucia bowlers were impressive in the powerplay, conceding only 27 runs after claiming the crucial wicket of Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the very first over. Shai Hope and Moeen Ali tried to move things along but struggled on the slow and sluggish surface.
Roston Chase and Noor Ahmed were dominant in the middle overs as Guyana were eventually reduced to 99-7 in the 18th over. Dwaine Pretorius and Romario Shepherd went berserk in the final stages to propel the score to 138 at the end of the innings.
In reply, St. Lucia started the run chase on a positive note, scoring 40 runs in the powerplay. However, the spin quartet of Gudakesh Motie, Imran Tahir, Kevin Sinclair, and Moeen Ali gave Guyana nothing to work with in the middle overs. The equation was reduced to 66 runs required off 30 balls as the side were stuck at 73-4 after 15 overs.
Aaron Jones and Roston Chase turned the game around by scoring 27 runs off the 16th over bowled by Moeen Ali. The barrage of boundaries changed the momentum of the contest, as this was followed by 20 runs off the next over bowled by Dwaine Pretorius. The duo remained unbeaten till the end to wrap up the chase and finish the campaign on a high.
"Five days ago, Aaron Jones said to me that he will win me the CPL final" - St. Lucia coach Darren Sammy
After making it to the finals on consecutive occasions in 2020 and 2021, St. Lucia finally won their first CPL title on Sunday. This also marked the sixth time that the Guyana Amazon Warriors have lost a CPL final.
Aaron Jones had not made an impact prior to the final this season, scoring nine runs off two innings, while not availing the opportunity to bat in his first three appearances. However, the USA cricket team member stepped up when it mattered, scoring an unbeaten and priceless 48 runs off 31 deliveries.
"I’ll tell you something, five days ago, Aaron Jones said to me that he will win me the CPL final, I swear to God. And we made one chance today, because the way he looked me in the eye when he said that, I believed that. We did send a message that the Moeen over had to go for plenty. He would his rhythm and I guess the message was well delivered," St. Lucia head coach Darren Sammy said after the title win (via Cricbuzz).
Nicholas Pooran ended the season as the highest scorer with a tally of 504 runs. Noor Ahmed, with his 22 wickets, including three scalps in the final, finished as the leading wicket-taker of CPL 2024.