St Lucia Kings 157 for 5 (David 43, Chase 30, Rampaul 3-29) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 152 for 3 (Seifert 40, Munro 40*, Wahab 1-17, Chase 1-17) by five runs
Two nights after conceding 255 in a massive season-opening defeat, St Lucia Kings bounced back to put it past defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders on a tricky two-paced surface.
The game was alive until the final over of the second innings. First, it was the Kieron Pollard threat they had to see off, which they did when he holed out to Alzarri Joseph at wide long-on after the pair had been involved in banter that occasionally got heated.
Then, they had to overcome Tim Seifert's late onslaught that turned around the requirement of 56 in 21 balls to 14 off the final over. The New Zealand wicketkeeper got stuck in to Keemo Paul, hitting him for two fours and two sixes in a penultimate over that went for 19 to entertain hopes of a coup.
Wahab Riaz, who conceded 61 off three wicketless overs two nights ago, then held his nerve after being hit for a boundary off the very first ball; the Kings winning by five runs after Seifert failed to hit a six he needed off the final delivery. The loss will particularly hurt because the Knight Riders only lost three wickets.
It was only their third win in 17 meetings against the Knight Riders, one they'll have to thank Tim David and Roston Chase for.
David, the Singaporean batter who impressed with a CPL debut half-century two nights ago, once again came into his own. He turned around a floundering innings with a quick fire 32-ball 43. His 68-run stand with Chase, who held the innings together to make 30 not out at No. 4, provided the Kings some middle-overs cushion that set up their finish.
It was a key moment because the Kings looked like they would get much below the 157 they finished with, after Ravi Rampaul and left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein used the slowness of the surface to weave a web around the batters.
