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Faf du Plessis (Source: Twitter)
The first match of the Caribbean Premier League 2023 (CPL 2023) saw Saint Lucia Kings take on the reigning champion Jamaica Tallawahs. St. Lucia Kings had hoped to avenge their Eliminator loss from the previous season by defeating Tallawahs. The Jamaica Tallawahs, the reigning champions, wanted to defend their championship with a good start. Records from prior matches don't matter much in this new matchup of equals because of changes and absences caused by The Hundred as well as Lanka Premier League obligations.
Rovman Powell, the former Jamaica Tallawahs' champion captain, was sold to the Barbados Royals in exchange for Brandon King. Jamaica Tallawahs won their first game thanks to the captain's strong leadership. Brandon scored an impressive 81 as he took his side to a total of 187 while Imad Wasim and Chris Green took five wickets to give the opposition little to no chance of getting the win.
“We need to practice under lights and be better in the field” : Faf du Plessis
The St. Lucia Kings skipper spoke about the pitch and glanced about the result and what they had prepared before the game. He said, “I thought with the ground stats it felt 10-15 runs too many. King played a good knock. And also their bowlers, how they took pace off the ball and made it hard for us. Their team is set up for the spinners. We looked at the surface and thought it would have got bounce, but there wasn't much and that's why I went for the spinners.”
The South African international discussed on the dropped catches and the impressive performance of Roston Chase in the game. He added, “We wanted one of the top four to bat through and if we get going then it would have been difficult to stop us. Great to see Chase perform tonight, seeing him bat like that gives us a lot of confidence. How many catches were dropped tonight? Yes, I should have caught that. There's wind blowing here but that is not an excuse. We need to practice under lights and be better in the field.