Despite Johnson Charles’ explosive innings with the bat, Saint Lucia Kings went down against the Guayana Amazon Warriors by six wickets in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2022 on Saturday. Charles remained not out on 87 having come out to open the innings for the Kings.
In a bid to get back to winning ways, captain Faf du Plessis made three changes from the last game. Ackeem Auguste, Roshon Primus and Scott Kuggeleijn were replaced by Matthew Forde, Kesrick Williams and Jeavor Royal.
There was also a change in the batting order up top - skipper Faf du Plessis opened the innings with Johnson Charles. The new opening partners clicked immediately, taking the Kings to a massive 77 for no loss at the end of the powerplay. That included the mammoth sixth over where both the openers combined to score 25 runs.
The rocketing start meant Johnson Charles's second CPL 2022 half-century came in the eighth over. The big hitter reached the milestone in style, sending his fourth six of his innings beyond the boundary rope. It took him only 27 balls to accomplish the feat.
At the halfway point of the Kings’ innings, the Warriors had mounted a comeback, snapping up du Plessis, Niroshan Dickwella and Mark Deyal in the ninth and tenth overs.
Losing three quick wickets put the brakes on the Kings’ innings, but Johnson Charles and Roston Chase steadied the ship. Despite the efforts, the Kings could not accelerate the scoring and kept losing crucial wickets.
Charles, who carried his bat in this innings, missed out on a deserved victory as the Kings finished at 161/7.
The second innings began successfully for the Kings as Jeavor Royal and Roston Chase sent the Warriors’ openers back to the pavilion in the powerplay. Come to the end of the tenth over, the match was in balance with the Warriors at 79/3. Jeavor Royal picked up the third wicket for the Kings.
Despite Kesrick Williams dismissing the dangerous and set Shimron Hetmyer, Henrich Klassen and Keemo Paul’s exploits were enough to take the Amazon Warriors to the target. Klassen’s match-winning half-century was the key anchor for the Warriors’ chase.
Brief Scores: Saint Lucia Kings 161/7 (Johnson Charles 87*, Tabraiz Shamsi 2/14) lost to Guyana Amazon Warriors 162/4 (Henrich Klassen 61, Jeavor Royal 2/17) by six wickets.
