The 2026 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) delivered a thrilling Friday night contest at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Ground, where home crowd support lifted the Saint Lucia Kings to a memorable six-wicket victory over the Jamaica Kingsmen, with a full 10 deliveries still to spare. The result not only sent fans streaming toward the exits in high spirits after a dramatic match, but also kept Saint Lucia’s postseason ambitions firmly intact, pushing the Kings to the top of the league table with six points from six outings, split evenly between three wins and three losses including two consecutive defeats entering the fixture.
The Jamaica Kingsmen arrived at the ground in strong form, having notched two straight wins on their home turf ahead of the cross-island clash. After a shaky opening to their innings, the visitors posted a competitive total of 169 for nine wickets from their full 20 overs. The Kingsmen struggled through the powerplay, mustering just 55 runs for the loss of five wickets, but a steady middle-overs recovery yielded 76 runs for the loss of just two wickets, before a late flurry of hitting pushed them past the 165-mark. They added 38 runs for two wickets in the final four overs, with both late wickets falling in the last six balls of the innings. In total, the Kingsmen racked up 92 runs from boundaries, including 10 sixes and eight fours, led by a polished even half-century from opener Keacy Carty off 45 deliveries. Late innings fireworks from Andre Russell, who scored 25 runs off 15 balls, and Odean Smith, with 27 off 17, helped accelerate the total to a challenging mark for the hosts.
It was 24-year-old Barbadian fast bowler Matthew Forde who stole the bowling spotlight for Saint Lucia, delivering a historic performance of five wickets for 31 runs from his four overs. This marked the first five-wicket haul ever recorded at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Ground in CPL history, and also made Forde the youngest player to ever claim the landmark in the league. With 12 wickets total through the first stage of the 2026 tournament, Forde now sits atop the competition’s wicket-taker rankings heading into the next round of fixtures.
Chasing a target of 170 runs for victory, the Saint Lucia Kings got off to a cautious start, managing only 39 runs for the loss of one wicket through the first six powerplay overs as Jamaica captain Rovman Powell’s rotating bowling strategy put the hosts under pressure. A match-changing 66-run partnership between newcomer John Campbell and wicketkeeper-batsman Kamil Pooran for the second wicket dragged Saint Lucia back into contention, moving the score to 91 for two. Through the middle overs, the hosts continued to chip away at the target, reaching 147 for three at the end of the 16th over, four runs ahead of the Kingsmen’s scoring rate at the same stage of their innings.
With the game in the balance, Pooran joined forces with newly signed South African allrounder Obus Pienaar, who joined the Saint Lucia squad only on Friday, to seal the win. The pair put together an unbeaten match-winning partnership of 57 runs from just 27 deliveries, guiding the Kings across the finish line with overs to spare. Pooran finished unbeaten on 48 off 49 balls, while Pienaar produced a blistering cameo of 34 runs off only 14 deliveries to close out the victory.
Speaking after the historic win, Forde credited the home crowd for the team’s success, saying, “I just want to say, ‘Thank you’ to the crowd. We owe it to them. They held up their side of the bargain, so I’m really happy to get a victory today for them. For me, it’s about sticking to that six-to-eight-metre length. There are some games where it’s not going to work, but for me, if it happens three out of five games, it’s just about keeping myself in check for the other two games and staying grounded, trusting the process, trusting my abilities.”
Forde, who counts Saint Lucia as a second home, added an emotional tribute to his family in attendance: “Saint Lucia is my second home. I love it here. It’s the only place I’d rather be other than Barbados. To have my family here, my dad is in the stands as well. I just want to give a shout-out to him. He’s always here for every game. I love you, big guy. But yeah, I’m getting goosebumps now because there’s no better feeling than playing at home and playing in front of your home people.”
Looking ahead, the Saint Lucia Kings will hit the road this weekend to travel to Trinidad & Tobago, where they are scheduled to face defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders next Wednesday in Port of Spain for their next league fixture.