PORT OF SPAIN – The Jamaica Tallawahs booked an appointment with the Guyana Amazon Warriors in last night’s final of the inaugural Limacol Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament at the Queen’s Park Oval.
The Tallawahs on Friday night eliminated the Barbados Tridents by seven wickets in the second semi-final, as big-hitting all-rounder Andre Russell and veteran Sri Lankan left-hander Kumar Sangakkara steered them home with nine balls to spare.
Replying to the Tridents’ 148 off 20 overs, the Tallawahs romped to 152 for three with Russell not out on 29, off just six balls, and Sangakkara unbeaten on 50 off 38 deliveries.
With the Tallawahs needing 32 from 20 balls when he came to the crease, Russell crushed the ambitions of the Tridents in the 19th over with a thrilling display of shot-making as he plundered three big sixes off former Pakistani all-rounder Azhar Mahmood.
Bowling the last of his four overs after earlier capturing the prized wicket of Chris Gayle for three runs in the fourth over of the innings, Mahmood produced some fodder deliveries to the Jamaican all-rounder who fired them into the stands and secured the advance of the Tallawahs.
Man-Of-The-Match Sangakkara, mixing aggression with clinical stroke play, guided the team in the difficult overs and also shared an important second-wicket partnership of 71 with opener Chadwick Walton, who benefited from a dropped chance before he was off the mark and scored 45 off 40 balls.
Walton, who was eventually run out by wicketkeeper Jonathan Carter, punished the Tridents for the early let-off and pulled around the game with the help of Sangakkara, preparing the way for Russell to launch his amazing blitz in the late overs.
The Tridents, who struggled and recovered to post a competitive total in their innings, generally kept themselves in the game up until the 18th over when the Tallawahs needed 15 from 12 balls.
The Tridents were sent in to bat and were set back early, losing the wickets of opener Dwayne Smith and promoted all-rounder Jason Holder with just six runs and three overs into the innings.
Young left-handed opener Raymon Reifer then joined with Shoaib Malik to put on 102 runs for the third wicket off 14 overs, before both fell is successive balls in the 17th over. Reifer was run out for a well-played 36 off 43 balls, while Malik, seeking to hit Gayle out of the ground, was caught at deep mid-wicket for 49 off 47 balls.
From 108 for three, Mahmood (14), captain Kieron Pollard (13) and Kyle Mayers (12) added 40 runs off the last three overs.
As it turned out, the Tallawahs made light work of the target, thanks to Russell’s late blitz, and qualified to face the Warriors who defeated them twice in the preliminary rounds. (CMC)