CPL 2021 | Tallawahs keep Semis hopes alive after beating table-toppers Patriots

It was a complete team effort by Jamaica Tallawahs which led to their comeback against table-toppers St Kitts and Nevis Patriots just a day after the thrashing they received at the hands of the Trinbago Knight Riders. The Tallawahs rose from that defeat and played it all out to win by 22 runs against the Patriots and thereby kept their Semi-Finals hopes alive and kicking. 

While it was Andre Russell with both bat and ball to drag Tallawahs to victory, other meaningful contributions came from skipper Rovaman Powell, Shamarh Brooks and pacer Migael Pretorious. The Tallawahs set up a target of 170 for the Patriots who were without their usual heroes in Dwayne Bravo Sherfane Rutherford for this game. 

The chase really couldn’t get going as the Patriots lost Evin Lewis and Chris Gayle inside the powerplay. These were the two men on whom the team was most dependent. 

After their departure, wicketkeepers Joshua da Silva and Devon Thomas tried to stitch a partnership and fuel the chase, but it was too much to ask from them as the partnership was nipped in the bud by a run out which led to da Silva’s dismissal wit the team score at 77 in the 13th over. 

With the required run rate increasing ever so fast, Dominic Drakes and Fabian Allen tried to keep up with it. But in the end, it became ever so high that the two batters crumbled under it and eventually the Patriots innings ended at 147-8. 

For Tallawahs, Pretorious picked three wickets while Veerasammy Permaul removed two batters. 

Earlier in the day, after winning the toss, Patriots skipper Gayle invited Tallawahs to bat first. After a cautious start by the openers Kennar Lewis and Kirk McKenzie, Powell and Brooks took control of the situation and guided the team past the 100 run barrier. 

Powell and Carlos Brathwaite then got out in quick succession, but Brooks continued with Russell who hit a quickfire 28 off 17 balls. In the end, the team ran out of gas and could only reach 169 even as they looked like crossing 180 easily. 

For the Patriots, Drakes, Fawad Ahmed and Jon-Russ Luke Jaggesar took two wickets each. After five wins in a row, this is now the third straight defeat for the Patriots who still occupy the top position on the table.