CPL: Saint Lucia Kings' Johnson Charles continues fine form despite loss to Trinbago Knight Riders

Gros Islet, Aug 24 (IANS) Opener Johnson Charles continued his strong batting performance with a 37-ball 47 but it was not enough as the Saint Lucia Kings were unable to chase down the target of 184 set by the Trinbago Knight Riders at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in St. Lucia on Sunday.

A strong start saw Johnson and Tim Seifert (35) setting up a 74-run partnership, before the deadlock was broken by Andre Russell. The wicket of Johnson soon followed, off Usman Tariq's bowling, and from there the team were unable to maintain their momentum, losing wickets on a regular basis. SLK eventually scored 165-6 in their stipulated 20 overs.

Earlier, SLK opted to bowl first, with skipper David Wiese striking first to get Alex Hales, who scored 10. Soon after, Keacy Carty (9) followed after he was caught by Wiese off Roston Chase's bowling. However, opener Colin Munro kept the pressure on the SLK bowlers, but eventually fell to the bowling of Tabraiz Shamsi.

With the score reading 78-3, Kieron Pollard entered the field and changed the game on behalf of TKR. He smashed a quickfire 65 off 29 balls, including 4 fours and 6 sixes, setting up an 82-run partnership with Nicholas Pooran. This allowed TKR to score 183-7, with Keon Gaston bagging 2 wickets, while Oshane Thomas, David Wiese, Roston Chase's and Tabraiz Shamsi got one wicket each.

The Knight Riders pulled off the win in Kings’ own backyard to head up to third position in the CPL table while the home side suffered their first loss of the competition to go with their abandoned first match which sees them one place above Barbados Royals at the foot of the table.

SLK’s first match was washed out due to heavy rain on Monday, before they beat St. Nevis and Kitts Patriots in their second game of the tournament. They will now face Barbados Royals on Monday.

--IANS

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