Forde holds his nerve at the close after Gous and spinners set up win for Kings
Antigua and Barbuda Falcons had the chase of 188 in their grasp before losing the plot against spin in the middle overs
Antigua and Barbuda Falcons had the chase of 188 in their grasp before losing the plot against spin in the middle overs
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Rvel Zahid
Andries Gous, Player of the Match: I think it's just giving yourself a chance on the wicket. Obviously, they've got a really good opening attack with Jaden and Alzarri coming at the back of that powerplay. So, we just got to make sure that we had some wickets in hand, and then you have to give yourself a chance. And once you get used to the wicket, and then the wind helped as well. So, you just got to play the wind and just get used to the wicket. Yeah, we obviously have a very young team. A lot of debutants today, and a lot of guys haven't played CPL before. And so, I just try to help them as much as I can. But again, they're really good players. They're just young and inexperienced. So, we're just trying to get that experience a bit quicker for them. And the smartness today just wasn't there at stages. So, hopefully next time we can just get that better. Yeah, I don't know. It's obviously tough in the US. The facilities are sometimes tough. So, it's more on the mental side. I have good people around me, I've got good family around me, I've got good people around me that support me and that I can speak to. So, that's probably it.
Fabian Allen, Antigua and Barbuda Falcons Captain: Credit to St. Lucia. They put us under pressure. But having said that, I think the boys fight to the end, but we did not get over the line, unfortunately. Yeah, I thought it was a good wicket, to be honest. But as I said, the boys did not capitalise on that. But we just have to go back to the drawing board, and we have a few days off, and then come back up. Yeah, I always back my player, and I thought he's a good player. And I thought we'll get ourselves over the line. But it was not his day. But unfortunately, we fell short. Yeah, I always believ. I always believ till the last of the ball, last delivery. I always believe.
Roston Chase, St Lucia Kings Captain: Yeah, it was too close for me. I thought that we had a good score on the board. And when I told my guys that we tried to defend 160, I thought 160 was a good total to defend. But we didn't start as well as we'd like, but we pulled back the game, and I'm happy for the win. Yeah, as I said, I thought we were looking for about 165 from the beginning. But then Gous played a nice innings and got it up to 180-odd. And we were very happy with that. So, it's just for us to come out and execute the plans in the bowling. As I said, we didn't start as well as we wanted, but we're happy for the W. No, actually it was not planned for me to bowl tonight because my finger is still healing. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and I just tried to go through the pain. And I was able to get four overs in tonight, and it pulled back the run rate. And the guys executed in the end, and it was good. I just said to him, I asked him what is his plan coming into the over, what he wants to do. And then we will set the field accordingly. So it's just for him to execute what he wants to do. And I can't be vexed if it gets hit or it doesn't, once he sticks to the plan that he told me. I'm happy with that, and it paid off.
What an incredible see-saw battle, with so many ebbs and flows that kept us on the edge of our seats throughout! The Kings got a decent and fighting total on the board thanks to Gous' 82-run rampage, and then they carried the momentum after the rain as well. Cornwall got off to a brisk start, Lewis was exceptional and Tajinder hung around for 21 but that's when things got complicated, with dots starting to build up and boundaries coming rarely. Maheesh Theekshana was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 18 while Roston Chase also picked up 2 for 18. Shadley bowled the important penultimate over and kept a lid on the score when it mattered most. All in all, an entertaining game of cricket on the weekend!
SK Springer c Nedd b Forde 4 (3m 2b 1x4 0x6) SR: 200
JN Hamilton run out 10 (36m 20b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50
Antigua and Barbuda Falcons had the chase of 188 in their grasp before losing the plot against spin in the middle overs