Tallawahs beat Tridents to make it three from three at Sabina Park

Photo: Chris Gayle receives the winners cheque from former Jamaica Prime Minister the Honourable PJ Patterson

The carnival like atmosphere that greeted the final over of the game between the Jamaica Tallawahs and the Barbados Tridents in the Limacol Caribbean Premier League T20 competition on Sunday told the story that the defending champions were already winners of the contest with six balls to go in the match. The Tallawahs defeated the Tridents by 19 runs to seal their third win at Sabina Park and sixth win of the season as they look to defend the title they won last year.

Having successfully chased in the first two home games, the Tallawahs batted first on Sunday and got off to a fairly good start before losing their first wicket at 35-1 when Chadwick Walton went for 25, adjudged lbw off the bowling of Ravi Rampaul.

Chris Gayle who went for 39 and Owais Shah who top scored with 42 then put on 79 for the second wicket as they took the score to 114 before Shah was the second to go, caught by Mendis off the bowling of Nurse in the middle of the 16th over.

The Tallawahs failed to build on the platform laid by Gayle and Shah and added just 33 runs in the remaining 4.3 overs to close on 147-8. It was the highest total scored in the five innings played up to that point at Sabina Park but the home team would have felt they were 20-30 runs short of their target.

The inform Dwayne Smith opened the innings for the Tridents but managed only five before he fell to a superb catch by Jerome Taylor in the gully off the bowling of David Bernard Jr. at 6-1 off the last ball of over number one.
Mendis was bowled off stump by Taylor at 11-2 off the first ball of over number four and Downrich was the second wicket for Bernard Jr, going for 9 at 27-3 in the sixth over as the Tridents stuttered at the start.

The dangerous Shoab Malik then revived the Tridents hopes as he smashed 5 fours and 2 sixes in his innings of 81 not out. None of the other Tridents batters managed to provide sufficient support and not even the dangerous Keiron Pollard was able to get among the runs, falling for just 6 runs at 79-5.

With Malik the only member of the Tridents batting line-up getting into double figures it was clear that the Tallawahs had scored enough to secure another win.

With 28 runs required off the final over the Tallawahs supporters turned up the volume in Sabina Park cheering on every delivery bowled by Man-of-the-Match Taylor who picked up two wickets for 11 runs off his four overs.

The Tridents scored eight runs in the final over as they finished on 128-6.

The Tallawahs now head to St. Lucia to take on the Zouks on Saturday.