King searches for another crown as CPL business end approaches

THE JAMAICA Tallawahs will wrap up the preliminary phase of this year’s Caribbean Premier League (CPL) when they take on the St Lucia Kings at 9 a.m. today Jamaica time at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.

The Tallawahs, who are on eight points from nine games, will be looking to secure victory and cement a place in the final four and an automatic play-off berth.

Today’s contest between the Kings and the Tallawahs is pitting the tournament’s two leading run scorers in Johnson Charles of the Kings and Brandon King of the Tallawahs.

Charles has so far racked up 342 runs in eight innings with four half-centuries, including a highest score of 87. King is just 16 runs behind the St Lucian on the run charts; however, the Jamaican has scored one of only two centuries in this year’s tournament.

For King, another batting title is firmly on his mind, similar to what he had achieved back in 2019 when he scored 496 runs in 12 matches, including the highest individual CPL score of 132 not out for the Guyana Amazon Warriors against the Barbados Tridents.

“I had set the batting title as one of my goals from the beginning of the tournament, so yes, this is something I’m looking to achieve,” said King.

Hard work

King has credited his recent successes to hard work over the past six months along with trusting his plans.

“A combination of a few things has helped me. I’m feeling very confident in my batting plans and I think I’ve been playing good cricket consistently over the past six months. These recent performances have been a result of consistency of approach,” added King.

With four wins and five losses in the tournament, King and the Tallawahs know all too well that there is no place for complacency heading into the business end of the competition.

“We’ve been playing good cricket, even the games that we’ve lost they have been very close. We’ve been consistently putting ourselves in winning situations. Coming down to this crucial period in the tournament, we just need to ensure we get over the line in those situations.”

The two-time champions are eager to make it a hat-trick of titles, and King believes the current crop of players, along with the astute leadership of coaches Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Curtly Ambrose, can bring them more silverware.

“We have set a goal of winning the tournament and that’s exactly what we intend to do. But, if you look at where the team was at in the previous two years and how we are playing this year, I think there is an improvement. It shows that the team is moving forward, which is all you can ask for at the end of the day.”