Powell, Russell star as Patriots stumble again
Jamaica Tallawahs 169 for 8 (Brooks 43, Ahmed 2-14) beat Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots 147 for 8 (Thomas 35, Pretorius 3-26) by 22 runs
Jamaica Tallawahs kept their hopes of involvement in the knockout stages of the CPL alive with a 22-run win over Saint Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the early game at Warner Park.
Shamarh Brooks top-scored for Tallawahs with 43 but they were grateful to a pair of six-laden cameos from Rovman Powell and Andre Russell to get them up to a challenging score after being inserted at the toss.
Defeat was table-topping Patriots’ third in a row – after they had started the tournament with five successive wins – and left them with two fixtures against Trinbago Knightriders, currently lying in second, with which to confirm their progress to the semi-finals.
A target of 170 was only a few runs more than the 167 Patriots had chased in the fixture between these sides a week ago. But Sherfane Rutherford, Player of the Match on that occasion, missed out after splitting the webbing on his hand and regular captain Dwayne Bravo was also not fit to return.
Chris Gayle, the stand-in skipper, was one of two Patriots wickets to fall in the Powerplay, as they limped to 34 for 2 with just four boundaries. Evin Lewis was caught behind off Migael Pretorius for 5 and Gayle was bowled by Chris Green’s first ball, leaving Devon Thomas and Joshua Da Silva with a rebuilding job to do.
It was arguably a brief the pair took too seriously, as Patriots reached 56 for 2 at halfway – needing a further 114 at almost two runs a ball. Da Silva hit Veerasammy Permaul over long-on for six in the ninth over and took the same bowler for a brace of fours in the 11th, before benefitting from two drops in as many overs.
He was eventually run out for 28 off 31 in the 13th, and although Thomas responded by hitting six and four off Carlos Brathwaite, when he top-edged Permaul to short third the asking rate had risen to 79 off 35.
Dominic Drakes and Fabian Allen cleared the ropes a few times to keep an unlikely win just about within range but Pretorius finished with 3 for 26 as Tallawahs closed out their third win of the tournament after a run of three straight defeats.
Tallawahs made a solid start to their innings, with Kennar Lewis clubbing the second and third balls of Allen’s opening over for six. Lewis departed in the Powerplay to Fawad Ahmed’s second delivery – hoicked heedlessly straight to deep backward square leg – but Brooks kept things ticking as Tallawahs reached 74 for 2 after ten overs, Kirk McKenzie the other batter to fall.
The wheels began to come off for Patriots when Powell thrashed Drakes for back-to-back sixes over the short leg-side boundary as the 11th over cost 18. Powell struck two more sixes in Allen’s next over, before miscuing another cross-batted heave into the off side; then Brooks began to find his range as Drakes leaked 13.
Worse was to come as Paul van Meekeren was mangled for two fours and two sixes by Russell in an over that included two wides and a no-ball and went for 24. Drakes and van Meekeren responded well at the death, conceding just seven runs from the 19th and 20th overs, but Tallawahs already had enough. (ESPNcricinfo)
