Saint Lucia Kings bounced back from opening day defeat to get their tournament underway with a comprehensive 54-run victory over the Barbados Royals in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Thursday night.

The Kings won the toss and opted to bat first and they filled their boots with a barnstorming innings that saw them post the highest total of the season thus far with a fantastic 201-6.

Healthy contributions from all members of the batting order negated a brilliant spell of bowling from Jason Holder and ensured the Royals would have to produce something very special to win.

The Royals failed to get going in their reply, losing five wickets in the PowerPlay to all but end the chase but a spirited 48 from Nyeem Young ensured the Royals added some late respectability to proceedings.

Earlier on the Kings had posted 201-6, led by a blistering show by the opening pair of Johnson Charles and Faf Du Plessis, the Kings raced to 61 but two wickets in Jason Holder’s first over brought things back. Charles and Shadrack Descarte falling in quick succession to give the Royals something to work with.

However, that joy proved to be short-lived as first Sean Williams and Du Plessis, then Williams and Sikandar Raza made light work of the Royals bowling to put the Kings into a commanding position heading into the final five overs.

But that platform failed to be fully exploited as Qais Ahmad and Jason Holder pulled the momentum back by dismissing Williams and Raza respectively.

Holder was to finish the match with 4-38 adding Roston Chase to his list of scalps but the lack of consistent support elsewhere ensured the Kings were still able to post an imposing total for the Royals to chase.

Chasing 202 to win was always a tall order for the Royals to chase but the reply was over before it began, following a run out for Rahkeem Cornwall, Matthew Forde was destructor in chief removing the Royals top order to leave the innings in trouble at 21-4.

Kyle Mayers briefly threaten to counter attack before Alzarri Joseph had him caught on the third man boundary for 16.

From there the Kings took the game away with wickets falling at regular intervals to dismiss the Royals for 147 to chalk up their first win of the tournament.

Scores: Saint Lucia Kings 201-6 (Williams 47, Du Plessis 46; Holder 4-38, Qais 2-35) beat Barbados Royals 147 all out (Young 48, Ferreira 19; Forde 3-12, Raza 1-21) by 54 runs

Barbadian all-rounder Matthew Forde produced an excellent display to help the Dambulla Aura defeat the Galle Gladiators by four wickets in the Lankan Premier League on Monday.

Despite a top score of 63 not out from Nuwanidu Fernando, the Gladiators were restricted to 129-8 from their 20 overs after winning the toss and choosing to bat.

Forde, who represented the West Indies at the 2020 ICC Under-19 World Cup in South Africa and the St. Lucia Kings in the most recent edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), was spectacular with the ball, producing figures of 4-11 from his four overs, conceding just one boundary in the process.

The Barbadian also led the way with the bat, scoring a 30-ball 52 including six fours and two sixes to spearhead an easy chase. Englishman Jordan Cox also contributed well with 34 as the Aura needed just 14.2 overs to reach 134-6.

The win was just the second for the Aura this season meaning they failed to advance to the playoffs.

The Playoffs begin on Wednesday with the Kandy Falcons taking on the Jaffna Kings in Qualifier one before the Colombo Stars and the Galle Gladiators face off in the eliminator.

Saint Lucia Kings kept their Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) hopes alive with a dominant victory against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots at the Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia Sunday night.

 The Patriots won the toss and opted to field first and that appeared to have backfired when Johnson Charles and Faf Du Plessis put on a blistering opening partnership that saw them post 61 runs in the PowerPlay. 

 However, much like their performance against the Guyana Amazon Warriors, the Kings faltered badly in the back end of their innings losing nine wickets for 75 runs.  

Despite the stuttering end to their innings, the 161-9 the Kings posted always looked tricky and the Patriots got off to a bad start in the PowerPlay losing three wickets for 48 runs.

They never recovered from that position as the Kings blew them away with an excellent performance in the field. Tim David led the way with a Hero CPL record-equalling five catches in the outfield. 

The Kings needed a good performance in this must-win game and led by captain Faf Du Plessis’ 60 runs from 35 balls they set off very quickly. 

Ably assisted by the in-form Johnson Charles the pair put on 86 for the first wicket but once Charles fell the Kings innings fell away. They regularly lost wickets in clusters and when Alzarri Joseph departed for a duck with the score on 124-7 it looked as if the Kings may not see out the overs. 

However, late hitting from Matthew Forde ensured the Kings were able to post a par score of 161. 

The Patriots' innings was in deep trouble very early on in reply. Matthew Forde ripped through the top three to leave the Patriots teetering at the end of the Powerplay.

 From that point, the Patriots failed to build any meaningful partnership as their top order continued to struggle.

 When Alzarri Joseph removed Darren Bravo for 20 to leave the Patriots on 81-6, that was the last of the recognised batters and the innings soon ended with the Patriots ending on 100 all out.

Saint Lucia Kings 161-9 (Du Plessis 60, Charles 41; Pretorius 3-37, Dananjaya 2-30) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 100 (Lewis 24, Bravo 20; Wiese 3-17, Forde 3-19) by 61 runs.