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The Tuesday night of the CPL 2022 witnessed two keenly followed playoffs stage encounters, with Barbados Royals and Jamaica Tallawahs coming out triumphant in their respective games versus Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Lucia Kings.
In the Qualifier 1, Royals dominated the Warriors in Guyana, clinching a win by a heavy margin of 87 runs to secure a place in the CPL 2022 final on Friday. David Miller’s men blasted their way to a gigantic score of 195/5 batting first, thanks to an excellent knock at the top by their allrounder Rakheem Cornwall and middle-order aggressor Azam Khan’s attacking half-century.
Cornwall pulverized the opposition attack on his way to a 54-ball 91. His innings was a six-hitting exhibition for the cricket lovers as he blasted 11 maximums through his knock. He was ably supported at the task by Khan, who reinforced his talent and promise with a knock of 52 off 35 deliveries.
Romario Shepherd (2/29) was the only saving grace for the Warriors with ball in hand, in complete contrast to the Royals, who not only found a stand-out performer in Ramon Simmonds (3/17) during the second half but also able support cast in the form of Mujeeb Ur Rahman (2/21) and Cornwall (2/10).
In a sorry-looking scorecard, the Warriors could only muster 108 runs off their 10 wickets, failing to even bat their full quota of 20 overs. 37 from their skipper Shimron Hetmyer was the highest score for the innings.
Brief scores
Barbados Royals 195/5 in 20 overs (Cornwall 91, Khan 52; Shepherd 2/29) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 108/10 in 17.4 overs (Hetmyer 37; Simmonds 3/17, Cornwall 2/10) by 87 runs
The Eliminator played between the Tallawahs and the Kings was a much closer affair, albeit still a straightforward victory for the Tallawahs. The men from Jamaica overhauled the St Lucians in a comfortable win at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. Despite Tallawahs posting only 148/8 off their 20 overs batting first, they managed to record a victory by 33 runs.
Like Warriors against the Royals earlier in the day, the Kings struggled to counter the pressure of the run-chase, getting all out for only 115 runs off 18 overs. Captain Faf du Plessis, with his 26-ball 41, was the lone warrior of the chase for the Kings, for whom the rest of the batting order failed to give an unacceptable account of themselves against some quality bowling from the Tallawahs.
Fabian Allen (3/28) and Mohammad Nabi (3/10) were the pick of the bowlers for Tallawahs, sharing six wickets between them. Experienced seamer Mohammad Amir (2/34) took two wickets for the day, while left-arm spinner Imad Wasim (2/10) maintained a leash on the scoreboard and also earned the just rewards for it.
The Kings also had a strong outing with ball in hand, with David Wiese (3/19) ending with eye-catching figures in an innings where seamer Alzarri Joseph took 2 for 31. That Tallawahs still managed to inch close to the 150-mark and give themselves a competitive score on the board was down to critical knocks from Shamarh Brooks (47) and experienced allrounder Nabi (31*). The Afghan cricketer, who bagged a three-fer with the ball in hand, earlier played the knock of the first half.
Brief scores
Jamaica Tallawahs 148/8 in 20 overs (Brooks 47, Nabi 31*; Wiese 3/19) beat St Lucia Kings 115/10 in 18 overs (Du Plessis 41; Nabi 3/10, Allen 3/28) by 33 runs
