Jason Holder and Saurabh Netravalkar took three wickets each to keep St Lucia Kings down to a modest total, and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots reached the target with five wickets in hand and 14 balls unused at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet.
Andre Fletcher remained unbeaten on 48 through the chase, and Patriots secured a five-wicket win in the CPL 2026 fixture played on August 12.
Holder and Netravalkar Restrict Kings to 155
St Lucia Kings won the toss and chose to bat first, but the decision did not pay off the way captain Roston Chase had hoped. Netravalkar struck early, removing Andries Gous and Ackeem Auguste inside the powerplay, though Kings recovered through an 82-run stand between Kamil Pooran and Jewel Andrew.
Pooran raced to 54 off 30 balls before he was run out following a direct hit from Wanindu Hasaranga, and Andrew added a further 39 runs with Charith Asalanka before Holder intervened. Holder dismissed both Asalanka and Andrew in the 16th over, breaking the momentum just as Kings looked set to push past 170.
The lower order failed to accelerate after that, managing only 22 runs in the final five overs. Kings finished on 155 for 8, with Holder and Netravalkar combining for six wickets at a cost of 52 runs between them. Chase later admitted his side had left 30 to 35 runs on the table, a gap that proved decisive once the chase began.
Fletcher’s Unbeaten Fifty Anchors the Chase
Patriots needed 156 to win, and their approach reflected the size of the target from the very first over. Johnson Charles struck two sixes and a four in a rapid five-ball innings before falling early, and Kyle Mayers followed soon after, having added 34 runs alongside Fletcher at a brisk pace.
Fletcher, however, remained unhurried throughout his innings, batting from the first ball to the last without ever needing to raise his tempo. His 41-ball 48, studded with three fours and a six, kept the required rate under control even as wickets fell at the other end.
Kevin Wickham chipped in with 19, while Holder and Dasun Shanaka added useful cameos of 10 and 12 respectively. Hasaranga finished the match in style, hooking Matthew Forde for six to seal victory with 14 balls remaining.
Patriots Register First Win of the Season
The result marked Patriots’ first win of the CPL 2026 season after they had lost their tournament opener, while Kings now sit at one win and one loss from two matches. Holder’s all-round contribution, three wickets with the ball and a composed cameo with the bat, earned him the tag of the match’s top performer by numbers, though it was Fletcher who walked away with the Player-of-the-Match award for his unbeaten knock and two catches behind the stumps.
The powerplay scores of both innings stayed close, 57 for 2 for Kings against 59 for 2 for Patriots, but the difference in the middle overs, where Holder and Netravalkar squeezed the Kings batters, ultimately shaped the outcome.
Patriots take this win into their next match and look to build on it as the tournament goes on. Kings, meanwhile, have work to do in the middle overs, where the innings lost momentum and cost them a bigger total.
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