Jamaica Tallawahs clinched their third title in the CPL after defeating Barbados Royals by eight wickets in the final at Providence Stadium on Friday. Tallawahs’ triumph is particularly impressive as they had to come from Eliminator, winning three knockout matches in a row to lift the trophy.
Barbados Royals had a blistering start after choosing to bat first. Rahkeem Cornwall smashed 36 off 21 while Kyle Mayers blasted 29 off 19, adding 63 runs on the board in the powerplay. Fabian Allen then landed the first blow for Tallawahs, having Cornwall caught at backward point. In his next over, he cleaned up the other opener, Mayers.
Imad Wasim and Allen kept things tight in the middle overs, combining for 4 for 42 in eight overs. Azam Khan and Jason Holder added 48 runs for the third wicket, but it came in seven overs. Azam made 51 off 40 balls before he was stumped off Allen. When Royals needed to push in the end overs, Nicholson Gordon bagged 3 for 33 to restrict Royals to 161/7.
Chasing the target, Tallawahs were rocked early with Mayers knocked over Kennar Lewis with an inswinging yorker on the fourth ball of the innings. Shamarh Brooks, the centurion from the Qualifier 2, then joined hands with Brandon King to rebuild the innings.
Brooks scored a fantastic 47 off 33 balls before he was dismissed in the 11th over, with Tallawahs needing 75 off 58. King, who was 30 off 28 up until this point, changed the gears completely and completed his fifty off 37 balls. He smashed 13 fours and two maximums in his 83* off 50 as Jamaica mowed down the target with 23 balls to spare.
Allen was named the player of the match for his three-wicket haul whereas King was chosen as the Hero of the tournament for his 422 runs in the season at an average of 38.36 and strike rate of 135.25.
Brief scores
Barbados Royals 161/7 in 20 overs (Khan 51, Cornwall 36; Allen 3/24, Gordon 3/33) lost to Jamaica Tallawahs 162/2 in 16.1 overs (King 83*, Brooks 47; Holder 1/14) by eight wickets.
