Seven defeats in eight matches -- the season is getting worse for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots. They have been suffering humiliating defeats one after the other in CPL 2016 and St Lucia Zouks handed them another one on Thursday.
Zouks, who have played just five matches so far in CPL 2016, are now placed second-last in the points table with four points. They can catch up with the top four teams if they continue with the momentum they have gained after thrashing the Patriots by 35 runs on Thursday.
Faf du Plessis won the toss and yet again took the wrong decision of asking Zouks to bat first on a wicket that looked like that it will go slower as the game progresses.
However, Zouks did not get off to a good start. None of their star batsmen -- Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Shane Watson and Michael Hussey -- could score big against Patriots. But they added some valuable runs to the scoreboard.
It was Zouks' skipper Darren Sammy, who lit up the night with a blistering knock of 59 runs from just 35 balls. The big West Indian clobbered five sixes and two fours in that innings. He was instrumental in powering his side to a total of 174 runs at the end of 20 overs.
All the bowlers turned out to be expensive apart from Samuel Badree (4-0-26-0) and Jonathan Carter (4-0-28-2).
The Patriots could not get off to a good start as they lost their openers Evin Lewis and Lendl Simmons early during the run chase.
It was Du Plessis (48, 37b, 3x4, 1x6) and JJ Smuts (30, 18b, 1x4, 3x6) who added some valuable runs but could not hold on to their wickets which were crucial for the run chase.
No other batsmen could help the Patriots in getting closer to the target set by the Zouks. As a result, they succumbed to a 35-run humiliating defeat in the hands of Zouks.
The season is almost over for the Patriots as they have no chance whatsoever to challenge the other teams to reach the top four in CPL 2016. However, they will want to end the tournament on a high and try and spoil other teams' party.
