AKEAL Hosein and Tion Webster delivered with ball and bat respectively to propel Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) to victory in their opening match against St Lucia Kings.
Their match at Warner Park in Basseterre, St Kitts, on Thursday was part of the Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament .
Sent in to bat by TKR, Kings scored 143/9 in 20 overs, with left-arm spinner Hosein proving a handful for the batsmen.
Hosein finished with 4/13 in four overs to limit the Kings to the modest total.
After openers Johnson Charles (four) and Leroy Lugg (13) fell cheaply, Mark Deyal and Roston Chase tried to lead a fightback.
The pair put on 44 for the third wicket, but the TKR bowlers kept the scoring rate down.
Hosein then swung the match in TKR’s favour, removing three Kings batsmen in one over.
He first dismissed Chase for 19 off 23 balls, then Scott Kuggeleijn (duck) and Deyal (35), to leave Kings struggling on 77/5 in the 13th over.
Deyal’s innings came off just 24 deliveries.
Roshon Primus played confidently when he came to the middle, lashing three fours and two sixes in his innings of 38 off 25 balls.
Kings then lost three wickets in the last over, including Primus. Fast bowler Jayden Seales grabbed the wickets of Primus and Alzarri Joseph (nine), and Jeavor Royal was run out for a duck off the final ball.
Seales ended with 2/38 in three overs.
Hosein did not stay on the field for the entire Kings innings after picking up an injury in the 19th over while fielding. After the match Hosein said his injury will have to be monitored.
In reply, TKR were reduced to 19/2 in the fourth over, with Sunil Narine falling for six and Nicholas Pooran scoring just four.
Webster and Tim Seifert combined to put on 81 for the third wicket to place TKR in a commanding position.
But TKR lost two quick wickets as Webster fell for 58 off 45 balls (six fours, three sixes) and Andre Russell was dismissed for five.
Captain Kieron Pollard and Seifert guided TKR to 140/4 in the penultimate over, before a collapse made the TKR camp in the pavilion a bit nervous.
Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph snatched three wickets in the 19th over, before Anderson Phillip struck a six to end the match. TKR closed at 148/7 in 19.2 overs.
Seifert, the fifth batsman dismissed, made 34 off 39 balls.
Joseph ended with impressive figures of 4/17 in four overs.
In the post-match media conference, Pollard said, “We will take the two points. Obviously yes (we wanted to finish it before) the last couple overs…but we have to take everything into the equation as well.”
He said it is “good that we were on the winning side.”
TKR will play their next match on Saturday against St Kitts/Nevis Patriots at Warner Park, from 7 pm.
Summarised scores:
ST LUCIA KINGS 143/9 (20 overs) – Roshon Primus 38, Mark Deyal 35; Akeal Hosein 4/13, Jayden Seales 2/38 vs TKR 148/7 (19.2 overs) – Tion Webster 58, Tim Seifert 34; Alzarri Joseph 4/17. TKR won by three wickets. Man of the Match: Akeal Hosein (TKR).
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