Jamaica Tallawahs vs Trinbago Knight Riders
Jamaica Tallawahs needed to get back to winning ways against the 4-time winners Trinbago Knight Riders after the Saint Lucia Kings ended their perfect start to the season.
The Knight Riders won the toss and Captain Ravi Rampaul asked the Tallawahs to bat first. The reliable duo of Kennar Lewis and Brandon King opened for the Tallawahs. Unfortunately, the Dangerous Lewis got out to Rampaul in the 2nd over of the Innings. By the end of the 4th over, the in-form King, got out playing a pull shot to the wicket keeper Tim Seifert, who took a running catch. At the end of 4 overs, the Tallawahs were 19/2. It was now up to Amir Jangoo and Captain Rovman Powell to steady the ship for the Tallawahs. Powell looked to take charge as he scored back-to-back boundaries in the 5th over. Just as the duo seemed to be gaining some momentum, their partnership was broken by Shaaron Lewis as Jangoo nicked the ball straight to the keeper. Raymon Reifer joined his captain at the crease with the team at 31/3. The batting momentum was slow as they both tried to steady the innings. In the 10th over the duo took on Andre Russell and started raking up the runs by hitting boundaries and helped the Tallawahs reach 98/3 by the end of the 15th over. Powell decided to take on the opposition skipper in the 16th over, hitting him for 21 runs which included 2 sixes and 2 fours. The 90-run partnership was broken as Reifer was caught in the covers off a slower delivery by Dupavillion. Powell and Fabian Allen got out in quick succession to Sunil Narine in the next over, leaving the Tallawahs at 128/6 by the end of the 18th over. Thanks to some impressive batting towards the end, especially by Imad Wasim who took on Russell in the 19th over scoring 13 runs which included 3 boundaries, the Tallawahs finished their innings at 153/7.
The Tallawahs defending a target of 154, got off to an ideal start as Mohammad Amir got rid of Narine in the first over. Fellow Pakistani Imad Wasim then took the wicket of Tion Webster with a wicket maiden in the 5th over leaving the Knights at 30/2 by the end of the powerplay. Just as the Kiwi duo of Colin Munro and Tim Seifert tried to build the momentum, Joshua James picked up the wicket of Munro in the 10th over, caught by Chris Green who lobbed the ball into the air at the boundary and caught it within bounds. The Knight Riders were in trouble at 45/3 and requiring 109 runs in the last 10 overs as the Tallawahs bowling attack kept up the pressure. Seifert soon got stumped due to some smart bowling from Green who bowled wider to Seifert when he saw him stepping out of his crease.
The Knight Riders still had a good chance to win as Andre Russell and Nicholas Pooran, two of their big hitters were still at the crease. Amir snatched away that chance by getting Pooran clean bowled. The increasing required run rate and the constant pressure by the Tallawah bowlers, forced the Knight Riders to take more risks and eventually succumbed to the pressure. By the 20th over they could only muster up 119 runs for the loss of 8 wickets, giving the Tallawahs victory by 34 runs. Wasim was declared Man of the Match with an all-round performance of 21 off 12 balls with the bat and 20 for 2 in his 4 over bowling spell.
An Incredible all-round performance by the Tallawahs earned them a much deserved win over the Knights and helped them get their season back on track after a loss in their previous fixture.