Tallawahs win pushes Stars closer to elimination
Jamaica Tallawahs ended a three-game losing slide when they disposed of St Lucia Stars by 21 runs on Saturday night, pushing the embattled hosts further into strife and closer to elimination from the Caribbean Premier League.
Rovman Powell’s Man-of-theMatch 64 fired Tallawahs up to 204 for five off their 20 overs at the Darren Sammy Cricket Ground. The target proved beyond the Stars’ capabilities, despite 46 from captain Kieron Pollard and strong support knocks from Trinidadian Lendl Simmons (45) and Australian David Warner (42).
While Tallawahs leapt to the top of the standings on eight points, Stars remained bottom on four points, with just two matches remaining in what has been another wretched campaign comprising just two wins in eight fixtures.
Reeling from three straight defeats in Fort Lauderdale last week, Tallawahs rebounded in style, with Powell spearheading the batting enterprise that saw Johnson Charles getting 34, Kennar Lewis, 33, and David Miller an unbeaten 32.
Charles put on 34 off 22 deliveries with Glenn Phillips, who made 17 before holing out to long on with seamer Kesrick Williams (3-34) in the fourth over.
And the visitors lost their second in the seventh over when Charles picked out long off with 18-year-old Afghan leg-spinner Qais Ahmad, after notching five fours and a six off 26 balls, as his side slipped to 56 for two.
Promoted to number four, Powell made the move count, hammering two fours and five sixes off 37 balls as he added exactly 100 with Lewis, whose 34-ball knock including a four and two sixes.