The Saint Lucia Kings claimed their first victory of the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League with a thrilling win over the Trinbago Knight Riders by five runs.

Wahab Riaz successfully defended 14 runs from the final over as Knight Riders fell five runs short in their chase.

Tim David was once again the star for the Kings with 43 from 32 balls that saw his side post 157/5 from their 20 overs.

The Knight Riders looked to take the game deep thanks to a brilliant 40 from 16 balls from Tim Seifert but the Kings claimed a last ball win.

The Kings started brightly after being put into bat with Andre Fletcher and Rahkeem Cornwall putting on 51 for the first wicket. It was Cornwall who went first, when he lobbed a ball from Ravi Rampaul to extra cover.

A burst of three wickets for the addition of just four runs pegged back the Kings and they looked to rebuild. A partnership of 68 between Roston Chase and Tim David brought the Kings back into the match with Chase playing the anchor role to David’s more aggressive approach.

An enterprising stand between Chase and Keemo Paul took the Kings to 157/5 with Chase finishing on 30 not out.

The Kings bowlers kept things tight at the start with the Knight Riders scoring at less than a run a ball inside the PowerPlay with Jeavor Royal particularly impressive with his left arm spin.

In the face of some excellent bowling Lendl Simmons and Colin Munro struggled to kick on with Simmons falling to Paul for 25 from 30 balls. At the fall of Simmons wicket, the Knight Riders needed 88 from 43 balls.

When Kieron Pollard fell for 9 from 10 balls it was down to the New Zealand pair of Munro and Tim Seifert to get their side home. Seifert’s brilliant hitting took his team tantalisingly close to a victory, but Wahab Riaz successfully defended 14 runs from the final over.

Brief Scores: Saint Lucia Kings 157/5 (David 42, Chase 30*; Wahab 1/17, Chase 1/17) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 152/3 (Munro 40*, Seifert 40*; Hosein 3/27, Rampaul 3/29) by five runs.