LAUDERHILL, Florida, CMC – Half-centuries from the dominant opening pair of Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles powered St Lucia Zouks to a comfortable 17-run win over Jamaica Tallawahs in the final game of the Caribbean Premier League here Sunday night.
Fletcher hammered a top score of 70 and Charles, 64, as Zouks maintained their recent impressive form by racing to 194 for three off 20 overs, after they were sent in at the Central Broward Park Regional Stadium.
Man-of-the-Match Shane Watson slammed an unbeaten 42 off a mere 17 deliveries to provide further momentum towards the backend of the innings.
In reply, captain Chris Gayle struck 30 and Rovman Powell, 28, but Tallawahs came up short with 177 for six, to hand Zouks their fifth victory in their last six outings.
In contrast, Tallawahs finished the preliminary round in a bit of a slump, losing their final two games after going unbeaten on their home leg in Kingston.
However, they ended second on 13 points, one head of Zouks and one behind Guyana Amazon Warriors who topped the tables.
Trinbago Knight Riders, the defending champions, clinched the final playoff spot in fourth with ten points.
Not for the first time in the tournament, Fletcher and Charles provided a flying start for the Zouks, putting on 104 off 68 balls for the first wicket.
Fletcher, who notched an unbeaten 74 on Saturday night here against Tallawahs, once again showed his liking for their bowling by smashing four fours and five sixes in a 54-ball innings.
Charles matched him, striking nine fours and two sixes in an equally entertaining 35-ball knock, before holing out in the deep off left-arm spinner Garey Mathurin in the 12th over.
When Australian Mike Hussey (8) and Fletcher fell in quick succession to leave Zouks on 152 for three in the 18th over, Watson stepped up to blast five sixes in a spectacular innings at the end – in a 42-run, unbroken fourth wicket with captain Darren Sammy (6 not out).
Jamaica then got a strong start when the left-handed Gayle pummeled 15-ball 30, in a 43-run first-wicket stand with Chadwick Walton who made 15.
Without a significant score in his last four innings, Gayle tried to hit his way into form with three fours and two sixes. He was gunning for his third six when he picked out Sammy at long on with medium pacer Watson in the fifth over.
Walton followed in the next over, skying off-spinner Shane Shillingford to mid-wicket, and though Powell lashed a four and two sixes in his short knock and Kumar Sangakkara tried with 24 from 17 balls, Jamaica fell further behind the required run rate.
SCOREBOARD
ZOUKS
+A Fletcher c Walton b Powell 70
J Charles c Walton b Mathurin 64
M Hussey c Walton b Powell 8
S Watson not out 42
*D Sammy not out 6
Extras (lb1, w2, nb1) 4
TOTAL (3 wkts, 20 overs) 194
Did not bat: G Elliott, G Pope, D Miller, D Johnson, S Shillingford, J Taylor.
Fall of wickets: 1-104, 2-133, 3-152.
Bowling: Imad Wasim 4-0-30-0, Shakib al Hasan 3-0-21-0, Williams 4-0-38-0 (w1, nb1), Mathurin 4-0-40-1, Powell 4-0-45-2 (w1), Allen 1-0-19-0.
TALLAWAHS
C Walton c Miller b Shillingford 15
*C Gayle c Sammy b Watson 30
+K Sangakkara c Miller b Pope 24
R Powell b Shillingford 28
A Russell c Elliott b Johnson 21
T Allen c Watson b Taylor 19
A Ross not out 23
Shakib Al Hasan not out 9
Extras (b5, lb1, w2) 8
TOTAL (6 wkts, 20 overs) 177
Did not bat: G Mathurin, K Williams, Imad Wasim.
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-51, 3-75, 4-110, 5-142, 6-146.
Bowling: Johnson 4-0-42-1 (w1), Taylor 4-0-38-1, Watson 4-0-26-1 (w1), Shillingford 4-0-30-2, Elliott 2-0-27-0, Pope 2-0-8-1.
Result: Zouks won by 17 runs.
Points: Zouks 2, Tallawahs 0.
Man-of-the-Match: Shane Watson.
Toss: Tallawahs.
Umpires: J Cloete, P Gustard;
TV – Z Bassarath.
