Debutants impress despite the Kings’ defeat against the Tallawahs

The evening games of the 2021 HERO Caribbean Premier League proved to be a spanner in the works of the Saint Lucia Kings, as they suffered a second consecutive defeat on Thursday at the Warner Park Stadium. Despite some spirited performances from Mark Deyal, Kadeem Alleyne and Jeavor Royal, it was the Jamaica Tallawahs who triumphed by 55 runs on the night. 

The Tallawahs started on the frontfoot on Thursday evening, as Kennar Lewis picked up two fours and a towering six against the left-arm spin of Jeavor Royal. Fellow opener Kirk McKenzie also started off with a bang, scoring a succession of fours against the pace of Alzarri Joseph. 

The third over proved no different, as Samit Patel conceded 21 runs to push the team score in excess of 50 by the end of it. Roston Chase managed to provide the first breakthrough for the Kings, as McKenzie top-edged one to find the palms of Joseph at mid-wicket. The wicket marginally slowed down the scoring for the Tallawahs, as the final two powerplay overs went for 17 runs, leaving the team score at 78/1. 

Opener Kennar Lewis was looking solid as he picked up his second fifty of the season in the 7th over. Shortly after his half century though the hard-hitting batter had to walk back to the pavilion, as Kings debutant Kadeem Alleyne managed to pick up a wicket. 

Despite the couple of wickets, the scoring rate remained close to ten an over for the batting side, as new batsman Rovman Powell welcomed Kesrick Williams into the attack with a four and a six to push the team score past 100. He picked up another mammoth six off Patel’s bowling shortly after to keep the Tallawahs in the ascendency. 

In the 14th over, Williams provided a third breakthrough for the Kings, as Powell tried to take him on but only found an alert Roston Chase in the boundary. That was followed up with another wicket as Jeavor Royal returned into the attack to dismiss Shamarh Brooks to leave the team score at 147/4 with five to play. 

That wicket though brought the dangerous Andre Russell to the crease, and the 33-year-old looked menacing from the get go, getting a six of just his second delivery. He followed that up with another couple of maximums against Samit Patel to keep the scoreboard ticking. 

The Kings once again found a route back into the game as Joseph and Alleyne picked up a wicket apiece in the 17th and 18th over respectively, but Russell continued to clear the ropes when afforded the strike, leaving the Tallawahs at 179/6 with two to play. 

Bowling the penultimate over was spinner Royal, who bowled with great precision to concede just eight runs while also picking up two wickets, which included that of the dangerous Russell. The Tallawahs though finished with a flurry of runs as Imad Wasim latched onto Alleyne’s medium pace, hitting him for three sixes and a four as the batting side finished with 211 runs on the board. 

Second Innings

The Kings needed a strong start if they were to get close to that target, and Andre Fletcher provided just that as he got a six off just the second delivery of the game. Fletcher’s partner Faf Du Plessis though couldn’t get going on the day, as he was adjudged LBW off the bowling of Imad Wasim. 

Fletcher though continued to push on as he picked up a six and a four to begin the third over, but caught a leading edge of the final ball of the over which was taken by the fielder at short third-man, leaving the Kings at 38/2. 

The scoring rate however didn’t suffer as Mark Deyal hammered a six and a four in the next over to get the team score past 50 in quick time. The southpaw took on Andre Russell as well, hitting him for a flat six down the ground to push the team score to 71/2 after five. 

At the other end, Roston Chase was also timing the ball sweetly, as he too picked up a couple of early boundaries. The 29-year-old welcomed Chris Green into the attack with two big sixes on the leg side to push the team score past 100. 

Carlos Brathwaite though turned the game on its head in the ninth over, as he dismissed both Deyal and Chase off successive deliveries. New players Samit Patel and Tim David picked up a four and a six respectively to push the score to 117/4 at the midway stage of the innings. 

David though couldn’t add to that four as he was out caught at covers a couple of overs later. Patel too couldn’t hang around for too long, as he was out stumped in the 14th over. Things got even worse for the Kings as Kadeem Alleyne was run out for zero in the same over, leaving the team at 136/7 with six to play. 

New man Alzarri Joseph also lost his wicket within a couple of overs, as he was out caught at the boundary trying to take on Imad Wasim. The same over saw David Weise also lose his wicket, run out trying to complete a quick single to leave the game at 148/9 with four to play. 

In the 19th over, Andre Russell ended the innings as he dismissed Jeavor Royal to give the Tallawahs a 55 run win over the Saint Lucia Kings. 

Brief Scorecard:

Jamaica Tallawahs: 211/10 (Kennar Lewis 56, Jeavor Royal 3/37)

Beat

Saint Lucia Kings: 156/10 (Mark Deyal 33, Imad Wasim 3/34)