BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – St Kitts and Nevis Patriots stunned 2013 champions, Jamaica Tallawahs, by 119 runs to grab their first home win of this season’s Caribbean Premier League here yesterday.
Playing at Warner Park, Patriots piled up an intimidating 199 for five off their 20 overs with Man-of-the-Match Evin Lewis stroking 82, and then bundled Tallawahs out for a paltry 80 off 16 overs, to seal the biggest win of this year’s competition. The bowing effort was engineered mainly by South African left-arm spinner, Tabraiz Shamsi, who picked up four for 23 while new ball bowler Sheldon Cottrell was equally brilliant up front with three for 15.
Veteran Pakistani leg-spinner Shahid Afridi chimed in with two for 10.
Australian Chris Lynn top-scored with 20 but was the only batsman to get into the 20s and only one of three to reach double figures.
The victory pushed Patriots to their second win in five outings but more importantly, up to third in the standings with four points. Tallawahs, meanwhile, slipped to fourth spot and remained on four points. Sent in, Patriots were off to a flyer as Lewis and New Zealander Martin Guptill, who scored 35 from 25 balls, posted 71 off 46 balls for the first wicket.
The left-handed Lewis struck the ball sweetly, counting six fours and six sixes, in an innings lasting a mere 45 deliveries.
His first ten balls yielded just ten runs but when he teed off in the fifth over with a six over mid-wicket and a four through cover off pacer Jerome Taylor, he never looked back.
Guptill struck two fours and two sixes before falling lbw to seamer Rusty Theron in the eighth over but Lewis and captain Marlon Samuels added a further 72 for the second wicket to keep the innings bouncing along nicely.
Samuels never found fluency, however, and he managed 19 from 18 balls before he was caught at the wicket off pacer Andre Russell in the 15th over at 143 for two.
Lewis followed four balls later with just one run added via the run out route but Carlos Brathwaite cleared the ropes at long off and then at long on, inside the first three balls he faced, to ensure Patriots remained on top.
Scoreboard
PATRIOTS
M Guptill lbw b Theron 35
E Lewis run out 82
*M Samuels c wkp Walton b Russell 19
Shahid Afridi c Lynn b Santokie 14
C Brathwaite not out 36
T Willett run out 1
D Thomas not out 0
Extras (b4, lb3, w5) 12
TOTAL (5 wkts, 20 overs) 199
Did not bat: +S Dowrich, Sohail Tanvir, S Cottrell, T Shamsi
Fall of wickets 1-71 (Guptill), 2-143 (Samuels), 3-144 (Lewis), 4-189 (Shahid Afridi), 5-198 (Willett)
Bowling: Santokie 4-0-38-1 (w2), Vettori 4-0-34-0, Taylor 4-0-39-0, Theron 3-0-29-1 (w1), Russell 4-0-42-1 (w2), Miller 1-0-10-0.
TALLAWAHS
*C Gayle b Cottrell 8
+C Walton c Brathwaite b Cottrell 8
C Lynn c wkp Dowrich b Cottrell 20
M Jayawardene run out 10
A Russell lbw b Shamsi 18
H Miller b Shamsi 2
D Vettori c Cottrell b Shahid Afridi 1
J Theron st Dowrich b Shamsi 1
J Taylor c Lewis b Shahid Afridi 0
K Santokie b Shamsi 4
N Miller not out 2
Extras (lb1, w5) 6
TOTAL (all out, 16 overs) 80
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Gayle), 2-18 (Walton), 3-43 (Jayawardene), 4-51 (Lynn), 5-55 (H Miller), 6-56 (Vettori), 7-62 (Theron), 8-63 (Taylor), 9-74 (Russell), 10-80 (Santokie)
Bowling: Sohail Tanvir 2-0-12-0 (w1), Cottrell 4-0-15-3 (w1), Brathwaite 2-0-19-0 (w1), Shahid Afridi 4-1-10-2 (w1), Shamsi 4-0-23-4.
Result: Patriots won by 119 runs.
Points: Patriots 2, Tallawahs 0.
Man-of-the-Match: Evin Lewis.
Toss: Tallawahs.
Umpires: P Gustard, J Wilson; TV – J Ward.