St Kitts & Nevis, Sep 1 (IANS): Kennar Lewis played the major role for Jamaica Tallawahs, while Kieron Pollard carried his team Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) to a convincing win in the 2021 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) here on Wednesday.
The two winning teams Jamaica Tallawahs and Trinbago Knight Riders are now tied for second with four points each, though TKR have played four matches against three by Jamaica. St. Kitts & Nevis have won all three matches and have six points.
Kennar Lewis hammered the highest score so far with an 89 and carried Jamaica Tallawahs to their second victory of the League. Jamacia won by six wickets over Barbados Royals.
Barbados Royals won the toss and opted to bat. They found themselves in early trouble, losing key batsmen Shai Hope and Kyle Mayers in successive balls in the Powerplay to Fidel Edwards, making his first appearance in this year's CPL.
Azam Khan (50 in 30 balls) and Phillips out on 71 runs off 51 balls re-built the innings. Joshua Bishop then struck 18 off eight balls at the back end of the innings to take his side to a respectable total of 151/8.
Migael Pretorius was the main wicket taker for the Tallawahs, taking four wickets, while Rovman Powell led by example with three excellent catches.
Jamaica Tallawahs, however, were able to chase the target down in 17.4 overs despite some early losses. Kennar Lewis was supported by the graceful play of Sharmarh Brooks, who hit 47 not out in 26 balls.
The win takes the Jamaica Tallawahs up to second in the CPL standings.
Meanwhile, Trinbago Knight Riders, who started the 2021 league with a loss, moved up to second place on the table with a 27-run victory over the Saint Lucia Kings.
The Kings won the toss and put Trinbago in to bat. They seem to be controlling Trinbago for almost half the innings before a late surge from Kieron Pollard and Tim Seifert helped the Knight Riders to post a challenging total of 158 for seven.
Knight Riders were four down for 68 before Pollard and Seifert repaired the innings with a 78-run stand in 44 balls.
The Kings, too, struggled early to find any momentum in the first half of their reply as Sunil Narine and Akeal Hosein left them needing a tough 82 runs from 36 balls.
Despite Andre Fletcher's unbeaten 81 from 55 balls, three wickets by the tournament's top-wicket taker Ravi Rampaul ensured a Trinbago win.
Brief scores:
Barbados Royals 151/8 (Azam 50, Phillips 31; Pretorius 4/45, Edwards 2/32) lost to Jamaica Tallawahs 155/4 (Lewis 89, Brooks 47; Bishop 3/20, Holder 1/44) by six wickets.
Trinbago Knight Riders 158/7 (Pollard 41, Seifert 37; Rampaul 3/34, Udana 2/32) beat Saint Lucia Kings 131/7 (Fletcher 81*, Du Plessis 15; Williams 4/24, Joseph 1/23) by 27 runs