Match 3 – C
The Tallawahs opened their account in the tournament with a whopping 120-run win over the Kings, who simply had no answers to the opposition’s onslaught.
Asked to bat first losing the toss, The Tallwahs posted an insurmountable 255/5 in their allotted 20 overs, with opening batsmen Chadwick Walton (47) and Kennar Lewis (48) providing them a magnificent start and then Haider Ali (45), Rovman Powell (38) and Andre Russell (50*) also playing the innings of great substance.
Off-spinner Roston Chase (2/33) was the pick of the bowlers in what was overall a highly disappointing bowling performance from the Kings. Apart from Chase, none of their bowlers went for less than nine runs over. And even though left-arm pacer Obed McCoy bagged one more wicket in his spell, he conceded 52 runs for the same, which summed up Kings’ bowling issues on the day.
With the game tilting decisively in Tallawahs’ favour in the first half, the Kings batted in tremendous pressure of the asking rate. Forced to take extra risks right from the beginning, they ultimately collapsed to just 135 inside 18 overs. Only two of their batters crossed the 20-run mark, with only the in-form Tim David (56 off 28 balls) proving to be a saving grace.
Pacer Migael Pretorious (4/32) and legspinner Imran Khan (3/7) shared seven wickets between them, while Russell, having pulverised the bowling in the first innings, delivered an economical spell of 1/19 off his three overs.
Jamaica Tallawahs 255/5 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 50, Kennar Lewis 48; Obed McCoy 3/52, Roston Chase 2/33) beat St Lucia Kings 135/10 in 17.3 overs (Tim David 56, Wahab Riaz 26; Migael Pretorious 4/32, Imran Khan 3/7) by 120 runs
Match 4 – Trinbago Knight Riders against Barbados Royals
After a blip at the start of their campaign against Guyana Amazon Warriors, defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders got on board in the CPL 2021. The Knight Riders were back to their best, defeating the Royals quite comfortably by six wickets.
Opting to bat after winning the toss, the Royals were soon left to rue their own decision as they collapsed to just 122 all out after failing to bat their allotted 20 overs.
While scores of 24, 20 and 30 from Glenn Phillips, Shai Hope and Azam Khan, respectively, had kept the Royals in line for a competitive total, a middle to lower-order batting failure meant that they could only manage a modest score.
Left-arm paceman Isuru Udana was the chief destroyer with the ball for the Riders as he bagged a five-fer (5/21). A great feature of Udana’s spell and tally was that all of his wickets included top-six batters from the Royals’ camp. Udana’s was an impactful performance that gave the opposition no window to make a comeback in the game. Akeal Hossain (1/18), Ravi Rampaul (2/13) and Sunil Narine (1/27) also bowled exceptionally well.
In the run-chase, even though Knight Riders got off to a poor start, succumbing to 18/3, which soon became 38/4 in the 8th over, hardly any pressure of the asking rate meant that they could bat through the troublesome phase and post a seamless recovery towards a win.
Captain Kieron Pollard led his team from the front once again, grabbing the game by the scruff of its neck and blasting his way through to an unbeaten 58 off 30 balls. Wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin (29*) held one end up nicely.
Pacer Mohammad Amir’s opening burst of three wickets (3/21) raised the Royals’ hopes in the powerplay, but the lack of runs on the board didn’t allow Royals to sustain that pressure and create a match out of it.
Barbados Royals 122/10 in 19.2 overs (Azam Khan 30, Glenn Phillips 24; Isuru Udana 5/21, Ravi Rampaul 2/13) lost to Trinbago Knight Riders 125/4 in 16.5 overs (Kieron Pollard 58*, Denesh Ramdin 29; Mohammad Amir 3/21, Oshane Thomas 1/14) by six wickets
