Trinbago Knight Riders vs Jamaica Tallawahs
As the league phase is nearing an end, Jamaica Tallawahs needed to keep their momentum going to finish in the top 2, while the Trinbago Knight Riders who just managed to stay alive in the competition with a win over the Guyana Amazon Warriors, had the added pressure to keep winning all of their remaining matches especially this one to get qualified for the playoffs.
Jamaica Tallawahs started the game with the same eleven while the Trinbago Knight Riders, saw just one change - Anderson Phillip’s coming in place of Jayden Seales.
Tallawahs’ captain Rovman Powell won the toss and opted to bat first as the stats were in favour of the team batting first winning the contest at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy.
Openers Brandon King and Amir Jangoo walked onto the field to start the innings with Daryn Dupavillon leading the bowling attack for the Knight Riders. The opening partnership didn’t last long despite couple of DRS decisions going in Tallawahs favour as Jangoo’s misplaced shot was caught by Andre Russell from an Akeal Hosein delivery in the 2nd over. Following the opener’s dismissal , his opening partner King too fell in the 3rd over off a slow cutter delivery from Ravi Rampaul that ended up in Sunil Narine’s hands. Shamarh Brooks tried to anchor the innings but lost both Captain Powell and Raymond Reifer at the other end. Both saw their wickets being picked up by Rampaul in the 5th over. By the end of the powerplay, the Tallawahs were only able to score 25 runs losing 4 wickets. The Knights kept the pressure on the Tallawahs as they were only able to add another 15 runs in the next 4 overs. Brooks managed to score 20 runs off 21 balls until he got dismissed LBW by Sunil Narine. Halfway through the innings Tallawahs were 40/5, when fresh to the crease, Fabian Allen and Imad Wasim took the responsibility of getting a decent score for the team. They put on a partnership of 57 runs off 46 balls. It was Rampaul again with the ball who picked up the wicket of Wasim at the end of the 17th over. Allen went on to score 50 from 35 balls which included 3 fours and 3 sixes. This greatly helped the Tallawahs score 116/7 from their 20 overs. A good bowling performance from the Knights put them in a favourable position to chase down a total of 117.
Tallawahs needed a strong start to defend a low total and the red-hot Mohammad Amir did just that by picking up Nicholas Pooran’s wicket with a wonderful wicket-maiden in the very 1st over. In the very next over, Chris Green dismissed Tion Webster in the first ball of his spell. Both Knights openers were dismissed in quick succession for ducks which seemed to be a perfect start for the Tallawahs. Their hopes were soon dashed as the Kiwi duo of Colin Munro and Tim Seifert put up a steady partnership. Munro was bowled out by Imad Wasim in the 8th over after scoring a crucial 40 runs off 28 balls which included 3 fours and 3 sixes. New to the crease, Sunil Narine didn’t last as his mistimed shot from Amir’s delivery was caught out by Nicholson Gordon. Seifert also fell in 12th over after scoring 28 runs from 31 balls. Pollard was joined at the crease by Hosein and the two tried to build a partnership. Pollard though fell in the 17th over to Allen, without making much of an impact. This meant the Knights were 97 for 6 at the end of the 17th over, still needing 20 runs off the last 3 overs and it gave the Tallawahs some hope of defending the total. Hosein and Andre Russell stood together as they took the game to the last over with the Knights needing just 2 runs to win. Russell finished the game with a four on the first ball. His knock of 18* off 12 balls, hitting 2 fours and a six helped secure the Knight Riders their much-needed win. Ravi Rampaul who had a great day with the ball conceding only 19 runs for 4 wickets with an economy of 4.8 in his 4 overs, bagged him the Man of the Match award. He also jokingly admitted that he had padded up and was ready to go win the match with the bat for the home crowd.
Jamaica Tallawahs fought hard with the ball but were let down by their batsmen during the initial phase of the match. Despite the loss, the Tallawahs will look forward to face the bottom-placed Guyana Amazon Warriors in their next match.