By Peter Della Penna
Jamaica Tallawahs 128 for 7 (Phillips 51, Jacobs 2-18, Emrit 2-24) beat Guyana Amazon Warriors 126 for 4 (Walton 37, Guptill 33, Williams 3-30) by two runs
(ESPNcricinfo) Kesrick Williams defended seven off the final over in a dramatic finish that saw Jamaica Tallawahs steal a two-run win from Guyana Amazon Warriors. With three needed off the last ball, Roshan Primus, facing his first ball, skied a slower ball to deep midwicket to deflate the home team fans at a packed Providence.
Williams took out his imaginary notebook to chalk up his third scalp of the night, and scribbled down another win for Tallawahs – their fourth in a row to move to second, trimming the gap between table-toppers Trinbago Knight Riders to two points. Amazon Warriors missed a valuable opportunity to draw level with Barbados Tridents, who are in fourth place, and remained stuck at fifth with just two points from five games.
Phillips’ maiden fifty
Glenn Phillips followed up his 32 on CPL debut in Tuesday night’s win in St Lucia with a resolute 51 off 47 balls that anchored the Tallawahs innings. On a traditionally spin-friendly surface where the ball wasn’t coming on, Phillips waited for the odd loose ball to cash in for his four fours and two sixes in what ended up as a valuable contribution in a low-scoring thriller.
Rashid v Simmons
One of the eagerly anticipated contests of the night lasted exactly two balls. Lendl Simmons was on 14 off 22 balls when Rashid Khan was introduced in the sixth over. Simmons lashed Rashid’s first ball – a full one – over mid-off for six. But Rashid dragged the length back slightly next ball, pitching a perfect googly. Simmons prodded forward and the ball split a sizable bat-pad gap to hit the stumps.
Guyana’s own gets two
It was a good homecoming for Steven Jacobs, who took 2 for 18. His first wicket was of Andre McCarthy, who came into the match on the back of two half-centuries in three games. But Jacobs ripped one in to beat McCarthy’s heave and bowl him for 8 in the 10th over. In his next over, Sangakkara played for turn and was beaten by an arm ball to be bowled for 5 as Tallawahs struggled to get the run rate up, ambling at 62 for 3 in the 12th over.
Foo fighter
The short but sweet spark provided by Jonathan Foo was pivotal to the Tallawahs innings. For the third match in a row, Foo provided a late boost to a sagging innings. On this occasion, he made 20 off 12, which included two fours and a six off consecutive deliveries against Rashid in the 18th over. The legspinner claimed him off the final ball of the over, but by then, Foo had ruined his figures, and Rashid finished with 2 for 38 in four overs.
Hat-trick of drops
Amazon Warriors’ reply was steady, but aided by poor fielding from Tallawahs. In three consecutive overs from the ninth to the 11th, Tallawahs had a chance to break the opening stand between Chadwick Walton and Martin Guptill, but put down straightforward chances all three times.
First, Sangakkara spilled Guptill on 16, diving to his right after Mohammad Sami found the outside edge. Five balls later, Garey Mathurin let a low return catch go through his hands and hit him hard. Imad Wasim too shelled a chest-high catch when Walton drove a full toss on 36.
Williams to the rescue
Williams led Tallawahs’ revival when he got Walton to sky a catch to backward point, ending an opening stand of 67. Mathurin bowled Guptill for 33 in the following over, but Amazon Warriors had the match in their grasp, requiring eight from the final over with eight wickets in hand.
After a single and a dot off the first two balls, it seemed like Tallawahs had blown it when Rovman Powell caught Jason Mohammed at long-on. But with Powell falling over, he flicked the ball back to Simmons, who dropped the ball and kicked it 20 yards away to allow a third run and Babar to return to strike.
With four needed off three, Williams got his second wicket when Babar drove flat and low straight to Powell. A single by Mohammed put new man Primus on strike for the final ball, with three needed. Primus shuffled across for a leg side heave, but Williams went wider with a slower ball, and Primus muscled it to deep midwicket.
