Jamaica Tallawahs, powered by spinner Muttiah Muralitharan, confirmed their spot in the semi-finals of the Limacol Caribbean Premier League (LCPL) Twenty20 after a six-wicket win over Barbados Tridents at Sabina Park in Kingston yesterday.
The Tallawahs join the Tridents and the Guyana Amazon Warriors as teams to progress to the semis.Scores: Barbados Tridents 113-4 (20 overs); Jamaica Tallawahs 114-4 (18.1 overs).The Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel provisionally pulled into the crucial fourth place — ahead of the Antigua Hawksbills — after a six-wicket win over the St Lucia Zouks in the first game of the double-header at the venue.Scores: St Lucia Zouks 99-5 (20 overs); Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel 105-4 (17.5 overs).In the afternoon feature, the Tridents lost the toss and were sent in to bat first, but could only manage 113-4 on a difficult batting surface that was described as “slow and low” by Tallawahs left-arm orthodox slow bowler Nikita Miller.Opener Dwayne Smith batted through the innings and ended unbeaten on 52 from 53 balls.Smith’s mostly circumspect knock was highlighted by a hoisted shot which flew over deep square leg and onto South Camp Road off seamer Vernon Philander’s full toss.Man-of-the-match Muralitharan, the retired Sri Lankan off-spinning great, grabbed 3-12 off four overs.Buoyed by a vibrant, party-like atmosphere and at least a 90-95 per cent capacity stadium, the home team weathered the loss of early wickets, including those of top Twenty20 batsman Christopher Gayle (five), to reach 114-4 with 11 balls remaining.Andre Russell and rookie Jermaine Blackwood were the batting heroes with undefeated knocks of 27 and 21, respectively.The pair combined to thump 13 runs off the 15th over bowled by medium pacer Rayad Emrit and took a further 11 in the next over delivered by left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan to shape the victory for the Tallawahs.Their unbroken fifth wicket partnership of 49 runs came off a mere 36 deliveries.In the curtain-raiser, the Zouks opener Andre Fletcher top-scored with a 59-ball 46 not out in the total of 99-5. The Red Steel wrist-spinner Samuel Badree ended with 2-18.In reply, Irishman Kevin O’Brien led the way with 37 runs off 33 deliveries, as the Red Steel reached 105-4 with 13 balls to spare.Zouks left-arm spinner Garey Mathurin took 2-24.The Tridents head the standings with eight points from six matches, ahead of the Amazon Warriors and the Tallawahs, who both also have eight, but trail due to respective inferior run rates.The Red Steel are on six points from as many games, followed by the Hawksbills with four from six. The out-of-contention Zouks, on four, have played all seven of their preliminary matches.Up to press time last evening, the Hawksbills were set to battle the visiting Amazon Warriors at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound — a match the hosts need to win to remain in with a chance of reaching the last four.In the final match of the preliminary phase, the Tallawahs welcome the Red Steel to Sabina Park in today’s 2:00 pm fixture. A victory for the Red Steel would seal the last remaining semi-final spot.Jamaica Tallawahs’ Andre Russell leaps in the air in celebration of his team’s victory over the Barbados Tridents at Sabina Park, yesterday. (PHOTO: BRYAN CUMMINGS)View the original article here
Tallawahs power into LCPL semis
