Table of Contents
Match 7 – St Lucia Kings versus Trinbago Knight Riders
TRK defeated the Kings by a margin of 27 runs on Tuesday to reach the second spot on the points table. The Knight Riders posted a fighting total of 158/7 in the first half before going on to restrict the opposition to just 131/7.
As it happened, while most of the TKR batting unit found it tough to get going on another dryish surface in St Kitts, skipper Kieron Pollard and Tim Seifert played exceptional knocks. Pollard made 41 off 29 deliveries, while Seifert blazed a 25-ball 37. The duo allowed their team to breach the 150-mark despite being just 63/2 at the end of the 10th over.
Kesrick Williamson bagged four wickets for only 24 runs off his spell for the Kings, who also had Alzarri Joseph (1/23) and Roston Chase (1/25) bowling miserly. The only really expensive St Lucia Kings bowler on the day was once again Wahab Riaz (1/40).
But the bowlers mostly did their job. The batting unit let the Kings down badly in the second half, failing to reach even 140. Opening batsman Andre Fletcher was left to fight a lone battle for most of the chase, as while he made an unbeaten 81 off 55 balls, the other eight batters on show collectively managed only 50 runs off the 65 balls they faced.
Pacers Ravi Rampaul (3/34) and Isuru Udana (2/32) were among the wickets for Knight Riders. Spin twins Sunil Narine (1/16) and Akeal Hossain (1/12) backed them wonderfully by hardly giving away a thing to score easily.
BRIEF SCORES: Trinbago Knight Riders 158/7 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 41, Tim Siefert 37; Kesrick Williams 4/24, Alzarri Joseph 1/23) beat Saint Lucia Kings 131/7 in 20 overs (Andre Fletcher 81*, Mark Deyal 14; Ravi Rampaul 3/34, Isuru Udana 2/32) by 27 runs
Match 8 – Barbados Royals vs Jamaica Tallawahs
While in one game, the team batting second made a horrible feast of a run-chase, the scenes were of contrast when Jamaica Tallawahs took on Barbados Royals and clinched victory over them by six wickets.
The Tallawahs had their stutters too, but they eventually reached the target of 152 runs with more than two overs to spare. This was thanks to innings of great substance from Kennar Lewis and Shamarh Brooks.
Lewis blasted 89 runs off 53 balls, while Brooks remained unbeaten for his attacking 47 off 26 deliveries. The Tallawahs were 50/3 in the 8th over and yet reached the victory post inside the next ten overs.
The Royals would’ve felt disappointed not to have sustained the pressure that they had managed to exert early into the piece. Left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop was the pick of their bowlers with 3 for 20 off 4 overs but the rest of the attack needed to also chip in and not allow Lewis and Brooks to take the game away.
But the Royals couldn’t fault their bowling unit too much as their batters didn’t get a more sizeable score required to put the foot down the opposition’s throat. A fine half-century from Azam Khan (50 off 30) was the stand-out effort from their camp in the first half. But, as in the second half, the rest of the Royals batsmen also needed to take control of things.
Migael Pretorious (4/45) was the most active of the Tallawahs bowlers in the wickets column and their most expensive one. Thankfully, they had Andre Russell (1/28) and Fidel Edwards (2/32) to maintain a tighter leash on run-scoring.
BRIEF SCORES: Barbados Royals 151/8 in 20 overs (Azam Khan 50, Glenn Phillips 31; Migael Pretorious 4/45, Andre Russell 1/28) lost to Jamaica Tallawahs 155/4 in 17.4 overs (Kennar Lewis 89, Shamarh Brooks 47; Joshua Bishop 3/20, Mohammad Amir 0/15) by six wickets
