Barbados Royals Register Emphatic Win over Jamaica Tallawahs in CPL

By Randy Bennett

The Barbados Royals weren’t about to disappoint their supporters for a second straight night.

The home side rebounded from their horrific performance on Wednesday at Kensington Oval to register an emphatic six-wicket win over the Jamaica Tallawahs last night in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL).

Thanks hugely to Shamarh Brooks’ knock of 78, the Tallawahs posted 160-7 from their 20 overs after losing the toss and being sent in to bat.

Player-of-the-Match Alick Athanaze then struck a fluent 76 to propel the Royals to 161-4 off 19 overs.

Athanaze struck seven fours and three sixes from 48 balls and shared 89 for the third wicket with Englishman Laurie Evans to bring stability to the Royals’ innings.

The home team lost the opening pair of Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall cheaply and stumbled to 25 for two inside the Power Play.

Australian off-spinner Chris Green trapped Mayers lbw for four in the fourth over, and Wasim bowled Cornwall for 17 in the sixth over, and fears that the Royals could spectacularly implode like the previous night against the Knight Riders surfaced when they were bowled out for 61.

“The conversation was very brief and very short,” Powell said about the previous night’s defeat. “We are not bad cricketers after one game. You get bowl out for 61, you can’t really talk about much.

“There was constant belief in the guys, somebody in the team had to stand up. The previous games, we got in excess of 190 to score, but [in this match] it was good to see they got two wickets in the Power Play, and we fought. I think it was commendable.”

Powell lauded Athanaze’s match-winning performance, saying he was definitely of the Caribbean’s future stars.

“Alick was fantastic. On a [pitch] that is a little bit slow, we needed someone to score 70-75, and I think Alick was excellent.

“We talked to him, saying that all he needs to do was just play proper cricket shots, don’t try anything funky… just play cricket shots and he will be successful,” Powell said.

“I think he has a very good future. It’s important that West Indies look at that and start managing him from now. We have seen players play all three formats in such quick time. Definitely there is talent. There is a lot of talent in Caribbean, but the problem is we don’t harness that talent,” he added.

Athanaze and Evans put the run chase on a firm footing, and Royals entered the final five overs needing 48 from 30 balls to put them right back in the race for a place in the playoffs.

And even though Evans and Athanaze fell within the final five overs, Powell, who finished unbeaten on 10, and all-rounder Jason Holder, not out on nine, batted through the closing stages to take them over the finish line with six balls remaining.

Earlier, Brooks smashed seven fours and four sixes from 41 balls and shared successive 54-run stands with Raymon Reifer and Pakistani Imad Wasim to set the foundation for the Tallawahs eventual total.

Tallawahs sunk to 23 for three when they lost their captain Brandon King, left-hander Kirk McKenzie, and England international Alex Hales cheaply inside the Power Play, but Reifer made 16 and Wasim added 33 and helped to beef up the total in partnership with Brooks.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad bowled Reifer in the 13th over before Brooks was caught at long-on off the same bowler in the 17th over, leaving Wasim to lead the late order hitting before he was run out off the final ball of the innings.

The result meant that Royals, Tallawahs, Guyana Amazon Warriors, and Trinbago Knight Riders all have five points with remaining matches and net-run rate currently the determining factor in the point table, headed by St Lucia Kings on six points, with St Kitts & Nevis Patriots trailing on two.

The tournament continues on Saturday with a double-header at the same venue, where Warriors and Patriots meet at 10 a.m. while the Royals face the Kings at 7 p.m. (RB/CMC)