St Lucia Kings clinch maiden CPL title after Roston Chase, Aaron Jones rally

After an 11-year wait, the St. Lucia Kings made history by winning the

Caribbean Premier League

(CPL) for the first time. On 6 October (Sunday), they defeated the reigning champions, the

Guyana Amazon Warriors

(GAW), becoming the fifth team to clinch the

CPL title

.
Previously known as the St Lucia Zouks, the Kings entered the final as the only original franchise that had never secured a

CPL

victory.

They had a strong performance in the 2023 season, finishing third but were eliminated by the now-defunct Jamaica Tallawahs in the Eliminator.
The Kings’ triumph was propelled by a remarkable fifth-wicket partnership between Roston Chase (39*) and Aaron Jones (48*), which led the team to their inaugural championship.

During the final, after winning the toss and choosing to bowl, the Kings appeared to be in control until the 19th over of the first innings. The Warriors were at 102/7 after 18 overs, but the Kings conceded 36 runs in the last two overs, allowing Guyana to post a total of 138 runs.
In the chase, the Kings faced significant challenges, finding themselves at 51/4 in 9.5 overs after the loss of their top four batters, including captain Faf du Plessis. However, Chase and Jones teamed up to score an impressive 88 runs from just 8.2 overs, guiding the Kings to victory with 11 balls to spare.

At one point, 66 runs were needed off 30 balls, but the duo scored a crucial 47 runs in the 16th and 17th overs, reducing the target to just 19 runs from 18 balls, after which they comfortably reached the goal.

The final ended with an anti-climactic moment as Imran Tahir bowled a wide.
“It has been special. We have been really consistent throughout the competition. A superb final, we had a lot of ebbs and flows, at one stage I thought it is time to go pack our bags. But right through the tournament we kept saying that we believe a lot in the depth of the squad,” SLK skipper du Plessis said after the contest.
Roston Chase was awarded the Player of the Match, while Noor Ahmad, who led the CPL with 22 wickets at an economy rate of 6.19, was named Player of the Tournament.