In a display of clean ball striking at Warner Park in St Kitts & Nevis, the Patriots completed the second highest run-chase in T20I history to record a 4-wicket win over an enterprising Jamaica Tallawahs team.
A total of 37 sixes were scored in this extraordinary match between two exceptional teams, the joint highest in a T20I game.
The Warner Park ground is preferred by boundary-hitting batsmen, so when St Kitts and Nevis Patriots asked the visiting Jamaica Tallawahs to bat first, Chris Gayle and his men gracefully accepted the opportunity to light up the venue, in the process scoring 241-4 in 20 overs.
It was a record-breaking feat in which Gayle not only recorded his fourth Caribbean Premier League (CPL) century, but the Tallawahs posted the highest score in T20I history. The highest partnership record also tumbled when Gayle and Chadwick Walton recorded 162 for the second wicket.
The onslaught began when Gayle, the self-proclaimed Universe Boss, recorded 17 runs off a Fabian Allen over.
At no point did he ease on the accelerator, despite losing his partner Glenn Phillips for eight with the score on 37-1 in four overs.
That was when the Gayle-Walton show began, with Carlos Brathwaite and his boys coming under the rod of correction as the big Jamaicans ruthlessly wielded their willows. Walton reached fifty in 25 balls, while Gayle achieved that landmark in 38.
The Universe Boss then took things to another level as he rocketed to his century in 54 balls, flicking one through mid-wicket for a couple while Walton continued to play the perfect nursemaid’s role.
But as Walton tried to match Gayle stroke for stroke, he fell for a brilliant 36-ball 73, which included eight towering sixes and three fours.
Allen, a victim of the Gayle onslaught in the first over, returned in his final over and removed Gayle for a 62-ball 116, which included 10 sixes and seven fours.
Andre Russell then added the finishing touches with his 8-ball 15 as the Tallawahs ended their innings on a formidable 241-4 in 20 overs.
Patriots began their response with a bang, adding 89 runs in the ‘power play’ overs. Evin Lewis blasted a quick-fire 53 from 18 balls, which included six maximums and three fours. Devon Thomas, who had a brilliant showing in the second match, continued his rich vein of form. Thus, at the halfway stage, Patriots were in firm control with 133-1 in 10 overs.
Tallawahs tasted success at the end of 12 overs, when the score was 161-2 and when Laurie Evans departed for 41 scored from 20 balls. That period was a good session for Oshane Thomas, who was not his usual expensive self. He quickly removed Brathwaite for a duck, and Jason Mohamed followed, to leave the score at 177-5 in 14 overs.
Those wickets, however, did not halt the Patriots’ progress, as Test batsman Shamarh Brooks and Windies white-ball player Allen added 50 to the score in a flash.
Having blasted 27 from 15 balls, Brooks was removed by Russell in the 19th over; but with 15 runs required off 11 balls, Allen took matters into his own hands and smashed Russell for a six and two fours to complete a record-breaking chase and win the game for the Patriots.
Patriots will play Barbados Tridents today, Wednesday September 11, from 18:00h local time.
