Saint Lucia Kings succumbed to a heavy defeat against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in their second match of the men’s 6ixty on Friday after St Kitts and Nevis Patriots chased down 67 runs with three wickets and four overs to spare at Basseterre.
The loss meant that the fortunes of Saint Lucia Kings now hang by a thread as they not only need to win their match against Jamaica Tallawahs on Saturday convincingly but also hope the results of other matches go their way to qualify for the semi-finals.
Put into bat first on a flat track, opener Johnson Charles (28 off 14) propelled Saint Lucia Kings to a promising start. Johnson Charles smashed two maximums off Duan Jansen in the very first over. The brave strategy unlocked an extra powerplay over and put St Kitts and Nevis Patriots under the pump straight away.
Realising the danger, captain Evin Lewis went for adventure by calling in the off-spinner Jon-Russ Jaggesar. Johnson Charles welcomed him with a slog sweep over mid-wicket on ball one and wrapped up the over with a boundary.
Dominic Drakes put the brakes on the rampant Kings by dismissing Johnson Charles in the next over. Johnson Charles’ opening partner Leroy Lugg (5 off 4) didn’t have a good outing and soon followed him to the dugout.
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots tightened the screws on Saint Lucia Kings, who went from 26/0 in two overs to be at 41/2 at the halfway stage.
After a change of ends, Saint Lucia Kings once again targeted the spin of Jon-Russ Jaggesar. Roshon Primus (12 off 10) and captain Mark Deyal (7 off 6) stepped on the gas with a six each but also succumbed in the same eventful over.
Next, Jaden Carmichael struck on the first ball to push Kings on the backfoot. Much like in the first match, Saint Lucia Kings were reeling at 55/5 after losing Ravendra Persaud (1 off 2) in the seventh over.
The last-wicket pair of Jesse Bootan and Matthew Forde tried playing out the remaining overs but the duo could add only 11 runs to the total which included three extras and four penalty runs before Matthew Forde was run out by Andre Fletcher while attempting a second run in the ninth over.
Needing just over six and a half per over, the star-studded batting line-up of St Kitts and Nevis Patriots comprising of the Universe Boss Chris Gayle, Baby AB Dewald Brevis, and West Indies international Evin Lewis were jolted early by the left-arm leggies of Jeavor Royal, who dismissed opener Andre Fletcher in the first over and pulled off some impressive dance moves.
Chris Gayle (9 off 11), the ambassador of 6ixty, then subdued run-a-ball innings at one down to support his captain Evin Lewis, who took calculated risks to keep the scoreboard moving.
Evin Lewis (22 off 15) got stumped in the fifth over on the bowling of captain Mark Deyal. Dewald Brevis (5 off 3) was also dismissed by Royal on the first ball after the change of bowling ends at halfway stage.
The glimmer of hope, however, soon diminished when Sherfane Rutherford (24 off 5) targeted Royal and hit him for four consecutive maximums to conclude the tricky chase.
Brief Scorecard
Saint Lucia Kings: 66/6 in 8.4 overs (Johnson Charles 28, Jeavor Royal 2/36) lost to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots: 72/3 in 6 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 24*, Jaden Carmichael 2/6)
