As St Lucia prepared to celebrate the immense achievements of its sprint queen Julien Alfred, the island’s Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) franchise, St Lucia Kings, ensured they were not left out, as players dedicated a dominant win over Trinidad and Tobago Knight Riders to the double Olympic medallist.
The Kings got the celebrations started on “Juju Arrival Day” on Tuesday with the 80-run win over TKR at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, to move into pole position on the CPL standings on 14 points.
Johnson Charles with a dazzling 89 set up the win as his 40-ball knock, which had eight sixes and seven fours, propelled the Kings to 218-6. They later restricted their host to 138-9.
Man of the Match, Charles, dedicated the victory to Alfred, who copped 100m gold and 200m silver at the Paris Olympic Games, a first for St Lucia. Prior to that, Alfred also became the first St Lucian to cop a World Indoor 60m title.
The 23-year-old returned to the island on Tuesday for the first time since her Olympic exploits.
“This one was dedicated to Julien “Juju” Alfred. Today (Tuesday) is our homecoming [for] our Olympic gold and silver medalist... so this one was dedicated to her. Thank you Juju for bringing home the gold and silver medal. We appreciate it. This one’s for you,” Charles said.
Head coach Daren Sammy commended his team for a solid all-around performance and was particularly pleased with the team’s execution with the ball.
“218 after losing the toss was really commendable. But what was even more commendable is the way my men in the hot sun, the bowlers, went and stuck to the plan.
“I thought Captain Faf was excellent with his matchups, making sure the right bowlers are bowling to the right matchups and exactly how we planned, it is exactly how we executed,” Sammy noted.
The Kings will aim to close out the preliminary round on a high when they face Guyana Amazon Warriors on Saturday ahead of the much-anticipated playoffs.