St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots vs Jamaica Tallawahs
The Jamaica Tallawahs have been one of the most successful teams in the Caribbean Premier League, having won 2 titles in 2013 & 2016. It is always important to get off to a good start in any competition, especially one as competitive as the CPL. So, it was important to start well against the current champions, the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, who had just won the first edition of the 6ixty Cricket League.
Patriots Captain DJ Bravo won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Patriots got off to a great start thanks to some precise bowling by Duane Jansen. Kennar Lewis got an early life as wicket keeper Andre Fletcher jumped to the right but could only get a hand to the ball. While Lewis tried to ride the storm at the crease, his partner, Brandon King, looked to be in great touch as he got some good boundaries. Despite the shaky start, Lewis started to get some rhythm as sixes started to fly off his bat and the Patriots bowlers started to lose a bit of control. Kennar Lewis was given another life as Duan Jansen dropped him at long off of Akila Dananjaya’s bowling. Unfortunately, Kennar Lewis got out as he fell short of a half century by 2 runs when he went for a maximum but got caught in the deep The wicket got Captain Rovman Powell to the crease as King continued to put pressure on the Patriots bowlers as he was hitting the ball in all directions. It was finally the experienced Dwayne Bravo who got King out on 89. Powell finished the innings with a 6 off the last ball of the innings and led the Tallawahs to 183/2 at the end of their 20 overs.
The Tallawahs started well as Mohammed Amir got the wicket of big hitter Evin Lewis, who went looking for a maximum but found Shamarh Brooks in the deep. After the first wicket, South African youngster Dewald Brevis came onto the scene. While he got off to a good start and seemed to be in great touch, he was quickly picked up by Pakistani spinner Imad Wasim. The Wicket of Brevis set the cat among the pigeons as the Patriots started losing wickets at regular intervals. At the end of 15 overs, the Patriots languished at 103/6, as they required 80 runs in the last 5 overs with 4 wickets in hand. With the required run rate climbing to 16, the Patriots batsmen had to go for it, which led to the wicket of Duan Jansen, who got out thanks to some incredible acrobatic fielding by former Patriot Fabian Allen, who covered a lot of ground to take a blinder in the deep. The Tallawahs bowlers kept up the pressure throughout and didn’t let the Patriots score freely, which led to a fine 47 run victory over the current Champions of the Caribbean Premier League and 6ixty Cricket League.