BY JOHN RAMSINGH AT CENTRAL BROWARD REGIONAL PARK, LAUDERHILL
It was dead rubber but nothing was dead in terms of excitement as the red hot St. Lucia Zouks made it two in a row on over the Jamaica Tallawahs on Sunday at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill Florida with a 17-run victory for the second day in a row. The game ended the Florida leg of CPL and also the preliminary round of matches as the top four teams head to Basseterre for championship honours.
Both the Zouks and Tallawahs were guaranteed places in the next phase of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) before the final
Zouks batsman Andre Fletcher (left) hits a six over midwicket as Kumar Sangakkara (right) looks on(Photo Ashley Allen/Sportsfile)
preliminary match of the tournament and the final match in Florida but that did not mean much as both teams were seeking momentum ahead of the business end of the championship.
The St. Lucia Zouks were invited to bat first by Chris Gayle the Tallawahs Captain and they obliged by posting 194/3 from their 20 overs after posting 206/3 against the same opponents just one day before. In the match on Saturday the Zouks posted the highest score of this year’s CPL and it got them over the rope by 63 runs when the Tallawahs were limited to 143/8. In the final preliminary match the Tallawahs were restricted to 177/6 falling short by 17 runs.
In match 30, the result was the same with Johnson Charles and Andre Fletcher laying the foundation for the mammoth total for the Zouks. Charles powered his way to his fourth half century this season with 64 from 35 balls (9×4; 2×6) and totally dominated the opening stand with Fletcher. When Charles was caught by Chadwick Walton on the midwicket fence off Garey Mathurin the score was already 104 in the 12th over and a huge total was on the cards. Charles over took Chris Lynn of the Amazon Warriors as the leading rin scorer and is the first batsman to past the 400-run barrier, he now has 410 runs.
Mike Hussey came and went quickly for eight but Fletcher was growing in confidence at the other end and began to cut loose. He was eventually taken by Walton, his third catch of the innings at 152/3 in the 18th over. Fletcher made 70 from 54 balls with five fours and five maximums. The last 10 overs went for 98 runs mainly due to Fletcher and Shane Watson who was not out on 42 with five maximums from 17 balls while Darren Sammy hit a four from the four deliveries he faced to finish on six not out then it was over to the bowlers who ensured that the Zouks finished on 12 points after their sixth victory. They will play the Trinbago Knight Riders on Thursday August 4 in St. Kitts in the eliminator at 19:00h while the Tallawahs who have lost both of their fixtures in Florida to the Zouks will take on table toppers the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday August 3 also at Warner Park in St. Kitts in the qualifier for the final.
The target was always going to be uphill for the Tallawahs and they needed a splendid knock from their talisman batsman Gayle or another one of their outstanding batsmen but it was not to be as the Zouks bowlers and fielders were not going to let the first innings work go to waste. Gayle and Walton were ot of the blocks in a hurry but at 43 in the fifth over Gayle was taken brilliantly by his opposite number at long off. The bowler to inflict the breakthrough was Watson while Gayle hit three fours and two sixes from the 15 deliveries he faced in making 30. No other Jamaica Tallawahs batsman copped with the pressure of scoring at about 10 runs per over and they were eventually 17 runs short.
Off spinner Shane Shillingford claimed two wickets to be the pick of the bowlers with four other bowlers sharing four wickets. The ground fielding was impressive and David Miller took two splendid catches to ensure that the Zouks go on to the next stage with momentum while the Tallawahs will have to bounce back if they will remain in contention for their second CPL title.
Rovman Powell, Kumar Sangakkara, Alex Ross and Andre Russell got starts but failed to kick on with the Tallawahs finishing on 13 points to be second in the points standings with six victories and three defeats.
The move of taking CPL to Florida, USA was successful with the six matches in four days producing results while the spectators came out in their numbers to enjoy excellent cricket in true Caribbean style. The prospects are bright for CPL in the USA it appears as if the CPL-USA partnership will grow from strength to strength.
The top four teams head to St. Kitts and Nevis for finals weekend at Warner Park for four more matches with the final set for Sunday August 7.
