FINAL – Barbados Royals vs Jamaica Tallawahs
The big day! Final day of the biggest party in the Caribbean, the season finale of CPL 2022. Barbados Royal faced Jamaica Tallawahs for the title. The winners of the first two editions of the CPL go head-to-head for this year’s silverware. With both teams having won the trophy twice, it was an all-out battle for their third title.
It was time for the toss. The Royals captain Kyle Mayers won the toss and opted to bat first. Tallawahs captain Rovman Powell stressed that the team was unfortunate to miss Mohammad Amir in the finals due to an injury and he was replaced by Migael Pretorius.
Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall came to open the innings for the Royals. It was a perfect start for them as they made complete use of the powerplay. 15 and 18 runs were scored off the 3rd and 4th overs alone. Raymon Reifer’s dropped catch of Cornwall in the 4th over began to haunt the Tallawahs as the duo were scoring runs easily. The opening partnership lasted exactly till the last ball of the powerplay until Fabian Allen picked up the dangerous Cornwall with an excellent catch taken by Imad Wasim. Soon, in the 8th over, it was Allen again who bowled out Mayers. The man with the golden arm managed to dismiss both the openers one after the other. Halfway through the innings with Jason Holder and Azam Khan at the crease, Barbados Royals were 81/2. Despite an express start by the Royals openers, Tallawahs managed to pull things back giving only 18 runs in the 24 balls before the drinks break. Khan looking to build an innings started slow and then went on to play his shots. Despite not getting the support from the other end, his 51 off 40 was vital for his team. He got stumped out by Kennar Lewis from another Allen delivery. Some great bowling by Tallawahs, managed to restrict the Royals to a score of 161 runs by the end of their innings. Despite a tough start to the innings for the bowlers, the rest rallied and did a great job to restrict the Royals to this total with 2 standout performances by Allen and Nicholson Gordon who bagged 3 wickets each.
A target of 162 was required for the Tallawahs to become the champions. Brandon King and Kennar Lewis came out to bat. Unfortunately it was not an ideal start as Lewis was dismissed very early, just the 4th ball of the innings, when an inswinger from Mayers got him out bowled. This put the Tallawahs on the backfoot immediately. But King and newly arrived Shamarh Brooks, fresh after scoring a century in the last game, played sensibly and took them to 41 for 1 by the end of the powerplay. They continued playing like this until the 8th over when Brooks was given out LBW off Mujeeb Ur Rahman, but they reviewed the decision and it was worth it as the decision was overturned. This seemed to bring more life into the batsmen as they started playing more shots and scored 31 runs in just 2 overs before the drinks break, leaving the Tallawahs in a very good position at 86 for 1 by the halfway mark. Brooks was dismissed by Jason Holder right after the break and he departed after playing a good knock of 47 off 33 balls. Tallawahs’ captain Powell stepped in to replace Brooks. Luckily for the Tallawahs, the wicket of Brooks didn’t seem to have much of an effect as King blasted four 4s in the 12th over and in the following over, he got to his fifty after facing 36 balls. King put his foot down and it was then raining boundaries as he knocked the ball several times off the park. Powell without having to do much, was enjoying his partner’s innings. At the end of the 16th over, they brought it down to 6 runs to win off 24 balls. King finished off the match in style, striking a massive blow over long on for a six to seal the deal for the Tallawahs with his monstrous knock of 83 runs off 50 balls involving two 6s and thirteen 4s. The team in the dugout were in celebration mode and got their party started. They went for a victory lap before the presentations began. Allen was declared the Man of the Match for picking crucial wickets that determined the outcome of the match. It was a touching tribute as he dedicated the award to his father who passed away. King was declared the Man of the Series for his consistent performances for the team.
The CPL might have come to an end but the celebrations will continue for a while for the Jamaica Tallawahs - the 2022 Caribbean Premier League champions. It was a great team effort throughout the season as different players stood up at crucial times.