Last Updated on September 2, 2022, 5:16 AM AST by Anthony Morris
The reigning champions of the Caribbean Premier League and the recently crowned champions of the SKYEXCH 6IXTY tournament, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots have had a taste of defeat in the first match of the CPL 2022 against the Jamaica Tallawahs. They defeated the defending champs by 47 runs.
At the end end of their innings, The Jamaica Tallawahs had managed to score a total of 184 runs with a loss of 2 wickets. In comparison, they managed to restrict their opponents and the defending champions, St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, to 136 runs at a loss of 8 wickets at the end of their twenty overs.
Patriots decided to field first, having won the toss; however, the decision backfired as a sparkling 89 runs off 57 balls from the bat of Brandon King ensured the victory of the Tallawahs.
The patriots fell to a sizable defeat as the team kept losing wickets in regular clusters resulting from the excellent fielding effort of the Tallawahs, which expertly backed their performance with the bat.
The Tallawahs had got off to a cautious start with Duan Jansen bowling a beautiful three-over opening spell. However, the runs started to flow once Brandon King got into his groove.
He took 14 and 19 runs off Akila Dananjaya and Jon Russ Jaggesar to ensure the Tallawahs ended the PowerPlay on 48/0.
King was timing the ball well, the the same could not be said for his opening partner Kennar Lewis. Usually a powerful striker, Lewis struggled in his time at the crease but had lady luck on his side.
He should have been run out twice, but Sherfane Rutherford and Dewald Brevis failed to execute, while Andre Fletcher and Jansen also missed a catch for Lewis.
Lewis took advantage of those misses and went on to secure a 100-run partnership with King before Jaden Carmichael managed to take his wicket after 48 runs.
After the loss of Lewis, The Tallawas Captain Rovman Powell came to the crease, securing 30 runs from 15 balls at the death to ensure the Tallawahs set a match-winning target. Although much like Lewis, he benefitted from two dropped catches along the way.
As was evident from the scoreboard, the Patriots were never really in the game in their reply. Evin Lewis, Dewald Brevis and Darren Bravo all fell in the first half of the innings, leaving the Patriots needing 12.5 runs per over to achieve the target.
Quite evidently, that was almost an impossible feat to achieve and with their excellent field-play, the Tallawas were assured of a comfortable victory
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
