Jamaica Tallawahs 178 fo 4 (Taylor 51*, Kennar 49, Lamichhane 2-21) beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 131 (Santokie 2-13, Wasim 2-21) by 47 runs
Arguably the most well-rounded team performance of the season for Jamaica Tallawahs helped them maintain their perfect start to CPL 2018 as they ended their two-game home stretch at Sabina Park with a 47-run win over St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, spoiling a return for native son Chris Gayle.
Three batsmen - Glenn Phillips, Kennar Lewis and Ross Taylor - contributed 40-plus scores to set a stiff target of 179 after the Tallawahs lost the toss. In response, the Patriots crawled out of the gate at 2 for 1 in three overs and were three down by the end of the Powerplay. They never recovered as six different Tallawahs bowlers took wickets to keep them to 131 for 9.
Patriots pay for fielding errors
Two of the three high scorers on the night for the Tallawahs received reprieves early in their innings. The first came to Phillips on 11 in the sixth over. Substitute fielder Hayden Walsh Jr., who was on after Gayle exited in the fourth over with a thumb injury, charged in from deep square leg after Phillips miscued a pull off Carlos Brathwaite. But Walsh was distracted by Jeremiah Louis running toward him from midwicket and, despite getting two hands to the ball, couldn't hold on. Phillips went on to make 41 off 38 balls.
The second came to Taylor, who skied a chance which was snapped up easily at extra cover when he was on 6, off the bowling of Anton Devcich in the 10th over. However, the third umpire called Taylor back to the crease after replays showed Devcich had overstepped the line. The free hit was swatted for six by Phillips, who up to that stage had scored a sluggish 15 off 21 balls before finishing with 26 off his last 17.
The two sides of Lamichhane
In an innings where Tallawahs scored at a run rate of 8.9 per over, the lone bowler who kept Patriots in the match during the first half was the 18-year-old legspinner from Nepal, whose end economy was 5.25. It didn't start that way though.
Lamichhane's first seven balls were hit for 16 runs, including two sixes by Man of the Match Kennar. But after the first ball of the 7th over was hit straight for six, Lamichhane dragged his next ball to a sixth stump line outside off and Kennar struggled to reach out with the result a skied catch to Tom Cooper on the boundary at long-off.
Two balls later, Lamichhane trapped Andre McCarthy with a googly. Off his final 17 deliveries, he conceded just five runs. Taylor struggled most of all, beaten repeatedly outside off stump to go scoreless in four deliveries against Lamichhane. At the end of his four-over spell, Tallawahs were 113 for 3 and Taylor on 11 off 20 balls.
Cottrell gets shelled
The momentum shifted drastically once Lamichhane left the attack as Tallawahs plundered 65 off the last five overs. Taylor in particular played with a newfound freedom once Sheldon Cottrell entered in the 16th over. In the first four balls after Lamichhane's spell ended, Taylor went 6, 6, leg bye and 6. Taylor scored 40 off his final 15 balls, including 28 off 8 against Cottrell during the 16th and 19th overs that featured two fours and three sixes by the New Zealand batsman. Cottrell ended with 0 for 44 on the night as Taylor provided a big lift heading into the innings break.
In Lew of runs
Evin Lewis' dramatic form drought continued at Sabina Park on Wednesday night. After Gayle played all 12 balls over the first two overs and managed to come away with just one run, Lewis buckled under the mounting pressure when he finally got on strike, fending at back of a length ball angled across by Oshane Thomas for a second-ball duck. It's his second straight duck and he has scored just 1 run off 10 balls this season.
Cooper's struggles continued as well after coming in at No. 3. Krishmar Santokie, who bowled a maiden to Gayle in the second over, snared Cooper thanks to a caped crusading effort by captain Andre Russell flying through the air at mid-off for a spectacular catch in the fourth over to make it 9 for 2.
Gayle, who had been dropped on 1 at backward point by Kennar off Thomas, started to stir in the fifth with a pair of sixes off Thomas but offspinner Steven Jacobs struck in his first over of the season, getting Gayle to slash to short third man to end the sixth over. Ending the Powerplay at 39 for 3, spinners continued to tie down the Patriots. Adam Zampa and Imad Wasim each collected a pair of wickets. When Imad had Brathwaite skying to long-on to make it 93 for 8, Patriots were in the process of being blown out, before Cottrell made cosmetic adjustments to the final scoreline with some late hitting. But the result was never in doubt for the Tallawahs.
