Kings advance to play-offs with
seven-wicket win over the Warriors
By Sean Devers
ST. Lucia Kings joined Guyana Warriors and Trinbago Knight Riders in the playoffs when they beat the Warriors by seven wickets in their own backyard on Thursday night, at Providence, to break the Warriors’ seven-game winning streak.
The St. Lucia Kings made 170-3, with 15 balls to spare, with Sri Lankan Bhanuka Rajapaksa hitting a pugnacious 86 from 49 balls, with nine fours and five sixes.
The left-hander added 132 with Colin Munroe, whose 55 came from 43 balls, and included six fours and two sixes as the Warriors had their worst night in the tournament, with poor catching, sloppy fielding, and undisciplined bowling.
Earlier on, an aggressive 40 from the burly Pakistani, Azam Khan from 25 balls with fours and three sixes, and 38 from 35 balls with five fours from Shai Hope, was the foundation that the Warrior’s innings of 167-5 were built on, as fast bowler Alzarri Joseph had 2-31.
A day after, Matthew Nandu and Saim Ayub put together 112 for the first wicket, as Nandu struggled to get the ball away in his three from 11 balls before he was run out at 10-1.
Hope joined in-form Ayub, who executed an imperious cover drive, and followed it up with another boundary, in an over from Joseph which cost 12 runs.
Ayub has three consecutive fifties under his belt, but Sikander Raza had other plans, and dismantled the stumps of the 20-year-old left-hander after he had made 16 from 20 balls.
The burly Khan joined the set Hope at 50-2 in the ninth over after just 34 runs came from the first six overs of the power-play.
Khan got two fours off McKenny Clarke, before, arguably, the Warriors’ best batter, Hope, played too early to pacer Matthew Ford, and was caught and bowled at 82-3 in the 14th over.

A GLORIOUS STRAIGHT-DRIVE
Shimron Hetymer got going with a glorious straight-drive back past the ankles of Ford, and another vocal capacity crowd was on their feet.
The sold-out crowd erupted in the 16th over when Khan deposited Peter Hatzoglou for two humongous sixes, and a scorching four.
Khan clobbered the genuinely quick Joseph for six, before he hit the Antiguan miles into the night sky, to be taken at long-on at 119-4 in the 17th over, to bring the Guyanese pair from opposite sides of the country together.
Hetmyer would clobber Hatzoglou over the mid-wicket boundary, while Keemo Paul flicked Clarke for four, and followed it up with a couple of gigantic sixes in an over which leaked 21.
Joseph, the fastest bowler in the tournament, was asked to bowl the final over, and removed Paul (19) at 156-5.
Romario Shepherd smoked Joseph for a six and a four in the final over, as Hetymer, 19 from 12 balls, and Shepherd, 10 from four balls, ensured the Warriors passed 150.
The Kings began their reply, inauspiciously, when Johnson Charles was trapped, LBW at 5-1.

A HOSTILE BOUNCER
Rajapaksa was tested with a hostile bouncer from Shepherd, before he top-edged a miscued hook over the keeper’s head for six.
Rajapaksa greeted Paul with a lofted drive on mid-off for four, before edging Paul to the third-man boundary.
Rajapaksa was dropped on 38 in Imran Tahir’s first over after 47 came from the six power-play.
The pugnacious Sri Lankan reached his 50 from 26 balls, peppered with eight fours and two sixes, and, along with Colin Munroe, who slug-swept Thair for four, steadied the ship.
Rajapaksa greeted the expensive Odean Smith with an effortless flick for six, before a few more boundaries in the over meant that 19 runs came off the over as Rajapaksa motored into the 70s.
The 50 stand came up in 37 balls, and when Munroe was bowled with a no-ball from Paul on 37, the crowd, despite the Tassa drumming and urgings of the DJ, had become subdued.
Paul eventually removed Rajapaksa at 137-2 in 14.3 overs to end the century stand from 85 balls, and when Thair got rid of Munroe, who’d reached his 50 from 38 balls with five fours and two sixes at 149-3, the crowd was once again energised.
However, Shawn Williams and Raza saw the Kings to victory.