Sheldon Cottrell & Co set up St Lucia demolition

Sheldon Cottrell, the fast bowler, set the ball rolling with the opening wicket of Andre Fletcher for eight in the very first over, catching him off his own bowling. From there, wickets tumbled at an extraordinarily rapid rate. Only David Warner (14) and Qais Ahmed (24) scored in double figures as Cottrell, Sandeep Lamichhane and Mahmudullah struck it rich.

While Lamichhane and Mahmudullah chipped in with two wickets apiece, it was Cottrell's haul of three wickets from 2.3 overs, including the big scalp of Kieron Pollard, that had the most telling impact. Once the bowlers dismantled the home team, the chase was always an easy one. Devon Thomas played the lead role with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 21-ball 38 to help the side overhaul the total in just 7.4 overs.

"As a team we were confident," said Cottrell. "We executed our plans well. Our plans against Pollard to hit hard lengths, into the pitch, worked perfectly. No game is easy, we try to come and execute our plans. I watch the batsmen closely and preparation is key for me."

With the defeat – their fifth in six games – the only way for St Lucia to qualify now is to win all their remaining four games.

It was the nature of defeat that was most demoralising for Pollard, the captain. St Lucia had picked up their first win only in their previous game and Pollard had expected things to pick up from there. Instead he was upset at how drastically wrong things went.

"From the start, everything went wrong today," Pollard rued. "I was telling the guys that in every match we start at 0-0. None of the senior players decided to bat a couple of overs and see if we can get a fighting total of 120 runs.

"That was the most disappointing part. I stressed about winning the first game. We wanted to get that monkey off our bag but it is not only about one victory. I stressed about complacency in the dressing room too. We should have capitalised on the momentum. Cricket is a funny game, we want to regroup and come out better. We have to win our next four games."

As much as Chris Gayle was happy with his side winning their second out of four games, the St Kitts and Nevis captain was equally shocked by the tame surrender of the opposition, particularly after they had amassed over 200 in their last two games.

"Based on their last two games I didn't expect this at all. I sent them into bat, they have been batting really well and that is the nature of this game. It went according to the plan for us. Our bowlers did brilliantly well to restrict them to 69," said Gayle.

"Leadership is key in T20 cricket as players look up to the leader. Devon Thomas batted well and took the pressure off Lewis. Hopefully, Lewis can get some form too. We have one more game against Barbados. Hopefully we would win one more game and then give ourselves a chance at home."