Providence, Sep 28 (IANS): The Jamaica Tallawahs gave themselves a chance to get into the final as they beat the Saint Lucia Kings in the Eliminator. They won by 33 runs and will now go to Qualifier 2 of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL).
In the Qualifier 2, Jamaica will meet Guyana Amazon Warriors, who lost to Barbados in the other match of the day.
The Saint Lucia Kings won the toss and opted to field first and took full advantage of that decision with a disciplined bowling display. The Tallawahs were never comfortable. However, some late order hitting from Mohammed Nabi helped them post a defendable total.
The Kings restricted the Tallawahs to just 29 for 2 in the PowerPlay as Matthew Forde and Alzarri Joseph bowled exceptional lengths.
The Kings continued to take wickets at regular intervals and when Kesrick Williams removed Chris Green for two the Tallawahs found themselves 115 for 8. However, Nabi lead the counter attack following that dismissal and finished with 31 off 15 balls to ensure the Tallawahs had a fighting total of 148.
However, their 148 proved more than enough as the Tallawahs produced a fantastic display in the field.
While chasing the Kings got off to a good start reaching 54/2 at the end of the PowerPlay but when Du Plessis was dismissed for 41 in the eighth over. The Kings found themselves in a hole from which they couldn't recover.
Mohammed Nabi followed up his fireworks with the bat with some exceptional bowling. The Tallawahs bowling unit all played their part as the Kings folded for 115 and exited the competition.
The Tallawahs victory now means that they will battle the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the second qualifier to determine who will contest the Hero CPL final against the Barbados Royals.
Brief scores: Jamaica Tallawahs 148/8 in 20 overs (Shamarh Brooks 47, Mohammad Nabi 31 not out, Raymon Reiffer 25, David Wiese 3/19, Alzarri Joseph 2/31) beat St Lucia Kings 115 all out in 18 overs (Faf du Plessis 41, Alzarri Joseph 28, Mohammed Nabi 3/10, Fabian Allen 3/28) by 33 runs