Basseterre, Aug 20 : Defending champions Saint Lucia Kings beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by three runs in a last ball-thriller at Warner Park to register their first win of the Caribbean Premier League early on Wednesday.

Put in to bat after losing the toss, St Lucia Kings posted 200 runs in the first innings, riding on quick-fire half centuries from Johnson Charles and Roston Chase and a 23 ball 46 from Tim David. Charles scored 52 off 28 balls and set the tone for a big total for SLK.

A brilliant debut innings from Breakout League pick Navin Bidaisee saw the Patriots stay in contention throughout a tight run chase as they attempted to haul down the Kings total of 200/8.

The match went down to the final delivery with Bidaisee and the Patriots requiring four to win off David Wiese's last ball. Wiese nailed his yorker for most of the over but missed his length slightly off the crucial delivery to put one in the slot.

Navin duly bunted down towards the boundary at long off only for the towering Tim David to pull off an ice-veined catch to give Kings victory by three runs and break Patriot hearts in the process.

For St Lucia Kings, captain David Wiese and Khary Pierre picked up two wickets each.

Chase was named player of the match for scoring 61 off 38 deliveries with the bat and cementing an all-round performance with 2-27 with the ball, his wily spin economical as ever and pocketing the wickets of Rilee Rossouw and Patriots skipper Jason Holder.

'It was a bit nerve-racking. I think we made it a hard victory. I thought we could have won it a bit more outright, but I'm still grateful for the two points," said Chase post-match.

The loss saw the Patriots with just one win in four matches and three defeats on the bounce. The Kings head to the top of the CPL table on net run rate despite their first match against the Falcons being abandoned due to rain.

Earlier, SLK's first match was washed out due to heavy rain on Monday. They will face Trinbago Knight Riders next early on Sunday.

/IANS