Tim Seifert’s fiery 16-ball 40 not out was not enough for Trinbago Knight Riders as they were beaten by Saint Lucia Kings by 5 runs in Match 7 of the Caribbean Premier League 2021, at Warner Park in St Lucia.
Trinbago were chasing a challenging 158, and they needed 35 off the final two overs. Colin Munro (40* in 46 balls) played Keemo Paul to cover for a single from the first ball in the penultimate over. The next five balls saw 6, 6, 4, 0, 4, struck by Tim Seifert. The equation came down to 14 in six balls.
Munro started the final over by hitting Wahab Riaz straight down the ground for four. Wahab (1-17) came back brilliantly after that. He conceded five from the final five balls to hand Saint Lucia their maiden victory of the season.
Earlier, Rahkeem Cornwall and Andre Fletcher (28) got Saint Lucia off to a rousing start after Kieron Pollard won the toss and asked them to bat. They added 51 in 34 balls before Ravi Rampaul dismissed Cornwall (23 in 14) in the sixth over to give Trinbago the much-needed breakthrough.
At No. 3, Faf du Plessis (10) failed to get going again. His struggling 15-ball stay came to an end when Rampaul held a sharp catch on his own bowling in the 10th over. Two balls after, Mark Deyal became Rampaul’s (3-29) third victim of the day. Saint Lucia were down to 69/4 in 9.4 overs.
Chase and Tim David held the fort from there. They added 68 for the fifth wicket where David contributed with 43 in 32 balls, with three fours and three sixes before Jayden Seales took an excellent return catch during his bowling, in the 18th over. Seales was pumped up after that effort.
Keemo (12*) played a breezy cameo to take Saint Lucia to 157/5. Chase (30* in 24), who was as impressive as David, remained till the end.
Coming to the chase, Lendl Simmons and Tion Webster failed to give them an ideal start. They added 34 in 33 before Roston Chase got Webster (18) in the sixth over.
Munro and Simmons (25 in 30) struggled throughout their stay, which forced Pollard to promote himself to No. 4. The plan did not work as he only managed 9 in 11 balls before Wahab sent him back to the dressing room. Had Pollard stayed in the middle for at least another over, the result might go in the other way round.
Brief Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 152/3 in 20 overs (Seifert 40; Chase 1-17) beat Saint Lucia Kings 157/5 in 20 overs (David 43; Rampaul 3-29) by 5 runs. Player of the Match: Roston Chase.