Jamaica Tallawahs 162 for 2 (King 83*, Brooks 47, Holder 1-14) beat Barbados Royals 161 for 7 (Azam 51, Cornwall 36, Allen 3-24, Gordon 3-33) by eight wickets
A regal half-century from Brandon King and three-wicket hauls from Fabian Allen and Nicholson Gordon thwarted favourites Barbados Royals and gave Jamaica Tallawahs their third – and first since 2016 – CPL title. Shamarh Brooks, who scored a sublime century in the second qualifier against Guyana Amazon Warriors, also contributed handsomely, with a 33-ball 47, as Tallawahs chased down 162 with plenty to spare at Providence.
The odds were stacked against Tallawahs even before a ball was bowled in the final. Mohammad Amir, who had taken a chart-topping nine wickets in the powerplay this season, was ruled out after having suffered a groin injury during the second qualifier. Then, his replacement, Migael Pretorius, conceded 24 runs in his two powerplay overs and then jarred his back while attempting a catch in the outfield. In the absence of their overseas spearheads, local seamer Gordon, in his first CPL season, stepped up at the death with figures of 3 for 33.
It was left-arm fingerspinner Fabian Allen who had launched Tallawahs’ fightback after Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall had slammed 63 off 35 balls for the first wicket. Allen got rid of the dangerous Cornwall with the last ball of the powerplay for 36 off 21, and proceeded to dismiss Mayers soon after, He later sent back Azam Khan, who had top-scored for Royals with 51 off 40 balls.
It was déjà vu for the Royals franchise: they reached the IPL 2022 final but had fallen short at the final hurdle there as well.
Full report to follow…
Source: ESPN Crickinfo