Nkrumah Bonner: Determined to make an impact at CPL 2020

JAMAICA Tallawahs batsman Nkrumah Bonner believes he can make an impact in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 season, although, since 2016, he had not featured in Twenty20 (T20) cricket until Saturday, when the Tallawahs were defeated by the Amazon Warriors in the “mother of all CPL matches”.

“It’s been a while since I played a T20 (game); I’ve been focusing on red-ball cricket. Hopefully, I get the opportunity to stabilise that (Tallawahs’) middle order – that’s my main role — then I can explode near the end,” he said ahead of his team’s second loss of the tournament, a 14-run failure versus Guyana Amazon Warriors in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago on Saturday.
Given his chance against the Guyana-based franchise, Bonner was harshly given out leg before wicket for only four, as batsmen on both teams struggled on a pitch which produced variable pace and bounce.
The Jamaican’s previous game in the format was four years ago, against the Amazon Warriors. He had also made four in a Tallawahs’ defeat then.
Bonner, 31, has impressed in regional cricket over the past two seasons. In the last domestic four-day championship, he was hugely successful for the Jamaica Scorpions, mixing style and aggression with superb technique to compile 523 runs in 13 innings at an average of 58.11.
He was expectedly named to the West Indies squad for their Test series in England last month. The regional side went down 1-2 as this middle-order batsman sat on the sidelines for all three matches. Though yet to make his Test début, Bonner played two T20 Internationals for the senior team between 2011 and 2012.
“The short version goes by quickly…it’s all about being confident and having a calm head, and definitely to read the situation and play accordingly. You just have to go out there and be positive,” he told the Jamaica Observer.

Bonner has said the Tallawahs — two-time former champions — have the quality to add to their trophy cabinet this season.
“I think it’s a very balanced team. I think on paper we have one of the better teams. The bench is strong as well, so that’s a very good sign for any team. Once we set up games in the middle, I can see us winning a lot of games.
“We have a good mix, with power at the top and power at the bottom, and a fairly experienced middle order. We have some good spinners and we have fast bowlers, so we have a good mix and we’ve bonded well. I definitely expect big things from us,” he said.
The Tallawahs’ next outing is against the Amazon Warriors, set for Port-of-Spain on Wednesday (tomorrow).
The 2020 CPL tournament was scheduled to be staged across several venues in the region between August 19 and September 26, but changes were forced due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. The rescheduled competition began last Tuesday, and is slated to run until September 10. All matches are being played behind closed doors at Queen’s Park Oval in Port-of-Spain and at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Tarouba. (Jamaica Observer)