Roston Chase was happy with his batting while Nicholas Pooran, inexplicably, was not pleased with his bowlers as Saint Lucia Kings earned their second victory of the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with a dominant victory over the Guyana Amazon Warriors by 51 runs on Thursday (September 2).

Chase starred with both the bat (85), then the ball, as he took the valuable wicket of Warriors captain Nicholas Pooran as the Warriors fell to yet another defeat.

“Happy we restricted them to 149, but not happy with that bowling effort,” Pooran said.

“We kept giving them free hits, it’s unacceptable. Credit to the Kings bowlers bowled well in the Powerplay and outside too. Well done to them. We’ve been inconsistent in terms of winning games.”

Guyana Amazon Warriors won the toss and opted to put Saint Lucia Kings in to bat, Chase lighting up the innings with 85 runs to take his side to 149-7.

The Warriors faltered in their chase, bowled out for 98 despite the best efforts of Captain Pooran, as the Saint Lucia Kings put in a clinical bowling performance.

Saint Lucia Kings lost the big early wickets of Andre Fletcher and Faf du Plessis before Chase came in and raced to his half-century from just 27 balls.

“Was just seeing the ball, hitting the ball and it paid off in the end,” said Chase, who was supported by Mark Deyal and then Tim David before a flurry of late wickets restricted the team’s total, as Guyana Amazon Warriors utilized eight different bowlers across the innings. Romario Shepherd and Odean Smith were the pick of the bowlers, as they both took three wickets each with economy rates under six.

Amazon Warrior’s response was stifled from the beginning, losing four wickets in the Powerplay overs as Alzarri Joseph and Obed McCoy caused havoc with their pace.

A blistering knock from Pooran, 41 from 26 balls, was not enough, even with Odean Smith blasting four sixes towards the end of the innings. Jeavor Royal and Kesrick Williams were superb as the innings progressed and continually picked up wickets.  

Saint Lucia Kings now have four points and are firmly in contention for a play-off spot as the tournament league stage nears the halfway mark.

Scores: Saint Lucia Kings 149-7 (Chase 85, Deyal 20; Shepherd 3-21, Smith 3-22) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 98 all out (Pooran 41, Smith 31*; Royal 3-19, Williams 2-7) by 51 runs.