Seifert's ton helps Kings down Knight Riders

Kings 211 for 4 (Seifert 105*, Asalanka 33, Pollard 1-24) beat Knight Riders 175 for 6 (Pollard 65, Munro 48, Chase 3-24) by 36 runs

Tim Seifert recorded the first century of this season’s Caribbean Premier League to help the Saint Lucia Kings register back-to-back wins, defeating defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders by 36 runs at the Queen’s Park Oval on Wednesday.

The win sees the Kings leapfrog the Antigua & Barbuda Falcons into first on the standings on net run rate, with both teams on eight points, leaving TKR second from bottom with two. 

Seifert’s unbeaten 105 (61) helped the Kings to the highest total of the competition so far before captain Roston Chase’s three-wicket over diverted TKR’s chase. 

Seifert and Kamil Pooran put on 60 (34 balls) for the first wicket to get the Kings off to a rapid start, ending the powerplay with the score 64 for 1. 

The Kiwi shared in two other half-century stands, first with John Campbell (75 from 38) and then with Charith Asalanka (51 from 36), maintaining the tempo while he batted through the innings.

Seifert’s moment, and what was his second CPL hundred, came with a single off Kieron Pollard’s 20th over. He brought up the milestone in 68 balls before seeing the Kings to 211 for 4 from their allotment.

Needing 212 runs for victory, Colin Munro and Sunil Narine got the hosts off to a solid start, scoring 56 without loss inside the powerplay. However, Chase’s triple strike in the 8th over to remove Narine (25), Matthew Breetzke (0), and Nicholas Pooran (0) pulled TKR off the trail at 70 for 3.

The Knight Riders slipped further into trouble when Joshua Bishop dismissed a set Munro for 48 with the score 76 for 4 before a blistering knock from Kieron Pollard brought them back into the contest.

Pollard launched 5 sixes to smash 65 from 26 in a 72-run fifth-wicket partnership with Matthew Tromp, which ended when the former was caught and bowled by Matthew Forde with 65 runs still to get from 23 balls. 

TKR were eventually restricted to 175 for 6 in their 20 overs for their third consecutive defeat of the campaign.