Chase, Jones lead Kings to their maiden CPL title

(18.1/20 ov, T:139) 139/4

St Lucia Kings 139 for 4 (Jones 48*, Chase 39, Sinclair 1-5) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 138 for 8 (Pretorius 25, Noor 3-19, Forde 1-11) by six wickets

Two months after sprinter Julien Alfred delivered St Lucia’s first gold medal in the Olympics, St Lucia’s very own Daren Sammy and his Kings gave the region its maiden CPL title, silencing a packed crowd at the Providence.

The crowd had been at its loudest when Guyana Amazon Warriors reduced Kings to 51 for 4 in their chase of 139 on a slow, two-paced surface. Kings went nine overs without a single boundary. Roston Chase was battling illness. Aaron Jones was struggling so much that Sammy contemplated retiring him out. Amazon Warriors’ four-pronged spin attack had their side dreaming of back-to-back titles.

Jones, however, turned the tables on them and crushed their dream. After being on 10 off 19 balls, Jones zoomed to 38 off his next 12 balls, forging an unbroken 88-run partnership with Chase, who has been with Kings for five seasons.

Chase played the Marlon Samuels role, something he’s been doing for West Indies for a while, and capped a stellar week for him, in which he had also earned a CWI central contract.

Full report to follow…

Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Over 19 • SLK 139/4

Kings won by 6 wickets (with 11 balls remaining)