分类： sports

A midweek invitational tapeball cricket clash between touring Saint Lucia sides and Dominica’s Dynamic Stars ended in a Duckworth-Lewis victory for the Caribbean visitors on August 12, capping a short break from a planned bilateral series between Saint Lucia’s national and veterans squads and their hosts from the Kalinago Territory. The multi-format tour, which combines a lineup of 10-over T10 and 20-over T20 matches across the week, is scheduled to run through Sunday, bringing cross-island competitive cricket to Dominican grounds.

In the standalone invitational fixture at Dominica’s Jolly John Playing Field, Saint Lucia won the coin toss and opted to open batting first, posting a solid total of 180 runs for the loss of 5 wickets over 15 shortened overs. Top-order batter Barry Eurysthee anchored the innings with a quickfire 51 runs, supported by valuable contributions from Nicholas Bruno (44) and Fendley Estephane (32) that pushed the visitors’ run rate to a challenging level. For the home side Dynamic Stars, bowler Dante Laurent claimed the best bowling figures of the innings, securing two wickets to limit Saint Lucia’s late-innings surge.

In response, Dynamic Stars’ batting got a major boost from a standout innings by Neo Davis, who struck an unbeaten 77 to keep the home side in the hunt. However, unplayable bad light forced officials to call off play early when Dynamic Stars had reached 157 runs for 7 wickets after 13 overs. When the D/L method was applied to adjust targets for the shortened match, Saint Lucia emerged with a comfortable victory. Eurysthee, Saint Lucia’s captain, earned the Man of the Match award for his dual contributions: he not only led the batting with his half-century but also claimed two key wickets, alongside bowler Kim Augustin who also took two wickets to restrict the hosts’ run chase.

With the invitational side game completed, the touring Saint Lucia squads have returned to the core bilateral series for the final four days of the Caribbean tour. The scheduled action kicks off Thursday with a T10 fixture between the two sides’ veterans teams, followed by a T20 clash between the full national squads. Two more T20 matches are set to be held on Friday, while Saturday will host a T10 Festival featuring four back-to-back matches. The entire tour will wrap up on Sunday with the final competitive fixtures hosted in Roseau, Dominica’s capital.

The 2026 Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association (ECVA) Championships kicked off Wednesday at the Multi-Purpose Sports Complex in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, delivering a dramatic opening day that delivered contrasting results for Saint Lucia’s national squads. As the defending women’s champions prepared to launch their title defense, they faced off against a determined Bermuda side that had been waiting for revenge after two prior final losses to Saint Lucia. In what organizers called a thrilling five-set thriller, Bermuda pulled off a hard-earned 3-2 victory, with set scores reading 18-25, 25-14, 25-21, 13-25, 15-10.

Speaking after the upset win, Bermuda captain Natalie Gazzard reflected on the team’s months of preparation for the contest. Gazzard noted that her side entered the match knowing full well the challenge of facing the reigning champions, who had beaten Bermuda in two straight ECVA finals. She credited her team’s intense summer training built around a “nothing touches the ground” work ethic, and specifically praised her hitters and setter for their consistent court control throughout the match. Gazzard said she was deeply proud of the squad’s performance, adding that she felt the team dominated key stretches of the contest to earn the milestone win.

On the men’s side of the opening day draw, Saint Lucia authored an upset of their own, battling back from a two-set deficit to defeat Antigua & Barbuda in another five-set classic. The final set scores confirmed Saint Lucia’s 3-2 win: 25-21, 23-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-10. In post-match comments, the Saint Lucia Volleyball Association described the opener as a grueling, hard-fought battle, highlighting that the team’s unmatched determination and resilience were the key to turning the tide after falling behind early.

Sheldon Descartes, captain of Saint Lucia’s men’s squad, shared that the team prioritized meticulous preparation even in the weeks leading up to the tournament. “Even in practice, we were making sure that we were planning out some of our routes as to what we need to execute to get the game done,” Descartes explained. The captain acknowledged that after dropping the second and third sets, the squad briefly lost focus and strayed from their game plan. But a critical mid-match reset allowed the team to regain its composure: “But as soon as we got back in the game, we made sure we stayed on point,” he added, crediting that adjusted focus for the comeback win. As the tournament continues, both Saint Lucia squads will look to build on their opening day results, with the men looking to carry their momentum forward and the women aiming to bounce back from their narrow opening loss in their title defense campaign.

The 2025 edition of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) is underway, and last year’s regular season table-toppers, the Saint Lucia Kings, have kicked off their new campaign facing a significant hurdle: two of their most impactful players are missing from the opening matches due to a crammed global franchise cricket calendar. New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert and Afghan left-arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad will not link up with the squad until their fifth fixture of the season, as they are still competing in England’s flagship franchise tournament, The Hundred.

So far, the Kings have split their opening two matches at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, claiming a win in their season opener before falling to defeat on Wednesday night. Up next, the side is set to face Antigua & Barbuda Falcons at the same ground on Friday evening, followed by a clash against Barbados Tridents this coming Sunday. Coincidentally, Sunday also marks the final day of The Hundred’s 2025 season, with both Seifert and Ahmad currently plying their trade for the Manchester Super Giants, who have advanced to the tournament’s playoff round this weekend.

Seifert’s absence is particularly notable for the Kings, given his standout performance in last year’s CPL. The dynamic hard-hitting batter finished as the league’s fourth-highest run-scorer, notching 396 runs across 12 matches. His contributions accounted for more than 20% of the Kings’ total run output throughout the regular season, when the side finished at the top of the league standings.

For Ahmad, the left-arm spinner did not feature for the Kings in the 2025 CPL leading up to this season, but he played an instrumental role in the franchise’s historic maiden CPL title win in 2024. At just 19 years old during that title run, the prodigious young spinner topped the league’s wicket-taking charts, finishing with 22 wickets at an impressive economy rate of 6.19 runs per over.

In Seifert’s absence, South African batter Andries Gous stepped up to deliver a match-winning half-century in the Kings’ opening victory last Sunday. The side also got solid batting contributions on Wednesday, with both Jewel Andrew and Kamil Pooran notching fifties in the losing effort. The Kings’ spin attack is set to get another boost later in the tournament when Sri Lankan mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana joins the squad, forming a formidable spin trio alongside Ahmad and captain Roston Chase. For the opening fixtures, however, the remaining squad members have been forced to take on expanded responsibilities to cover for the two missing stars.

The good news for Kings fans is that the star duo is expected to return to the squad in time for next Wednesday’s match against the Guyana Amazon Warriors at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground, and will be available for the remainder of the CPL season once they arrive.

The Saint Lucia Kings are not the only CPL side dealing with this scheduling conflict. Three other CPL franchises are also expecting to get their key players back from The Hundred commitments next week. Defending CPL champions Trinbago Knight Riders are waiting on star batter Nicholas Pooran, who is currently playing for MI London, while Jamaica Kingsmen captain Rovman Powell is competing for the Trent Rockets in the English tournament.

The 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) delivered a dramatic story of former loyalty turned on-field triumph on August 12, as the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots pulled off a five-wicket victory over the Saint Lucia Kings at Gros Islet’s Daren Sammy Cricket Ground. The fixture marked the Saint Lucia Kings’ first of five scheduled home matches of the 2024 regular season, drawing a lively packed crowd to the iconic venue, and also featured the highly anticipated CPL debut of Sri Lankan international batter Charith Asalanka.

What made the Patriots’ win stand out was the decisive contribution of a trio of ex-Saint Lucia Kings players who knew every inch of the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground from years of competing on its pitch. Leading that group was Johnson Charles, a Saint Lucian native who holds the record as both the Kings’ and the entire CPL’s all-time leading run-scorer. Charles got the Patriots’ chase off to a blistering start, notching a quickfire 16 to set the tone for the visitors’ innings.

The match opened with a shaky start for the home side, who lost opening batters Andries Gous and Ackeem Auguste within the first few overs, leaving them reeling at 2 wickets down early. The Kings’ batting order recovered steadily, however, reaching 57 for 2 by the end of the mandatory powerplay fielding restrictions. Trinidadian batter Kamil Pooran delivered a standout performance, notching his first ever half-century in T20 cricket with a composed 54 runs before a brilliant run-out from Sri Lankan star Wanindu Hasaranga ended his innings. Pooran built a match-defining 82-run third-wicket partnership with all-rounder Jewel Andrew, who carried on after Pooran’s dismissal to hit his own half-century before being out for 58.

Patriots captain Jason Holder and fast bowler Saurabh Netravalkar turned the tide for the visitors in the back half of the Kings’ innings, each claiming three wickets to stifle the home side’s momentum. Consistent pressure from the Patriots’ bowling attack restricted the Kings to a final total of 155 for 8 off their 20 overs, a score widely viewed as well below par on the batting-friendly Daren Sammy ground.

Chasing 156 for victory, the Patriots got off to a flying start in the powerplay, thanks to more heroics from another former King. Kyle Mayers smashed 32 runs off just 16 deliveries, propelling the Patriots to 59 runs by the end of the first six overs. A mid-innings collapse followed, as a string of inconsistent shot selection from the Patriots batters allowed the Kings to claw back wickets and put the result back in doubt. But Andre Fletcher, the third ex-Saint Lucia Kings player in the Patriots lineup, held firm to carry his bat through the remainder of the chase, steering the visitors across the finish line for a five-wicket win.