BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC — Andre Russell smashed his maiden Twenty20 hundred as Jamaica Tallawahs beat title-holders Trinbago Knight Riders by 19 runs in a rain-hit affair at Warner Park here Friday night, to book a spot in today’s Caribbean Premier League final against Guyana Amazon Warriors.
The Jamaican struck exactly 100 off 44 deliveries as Tallawahs defied a lengthy rain break to post an imposing 195 for seven off their overs, after they were sent in.
Set a revised target of 130 off 12 overs, TKR closed on 110 for seven, with Bangladeshi left-arm spinner Shakib al Hasan doing the bulk of the damage with three for 23 and Russell picking up two for 27, to clinch the Man-of-the-Match honours.
New Zealander Colin Munro top-scored with 38 and South African opener Hashim Amla got 37 but once they were separated, TKR lost wickets steadily as the innings went into decline.
With the result, it means Tallawahs will chase their second CPL title after winning the inaugural tournament in 2013, while Amazon Warriors will be after their maiden one.
Tallawahs got a flying start from captain Chris Gayle and Chadwick Walton who put on 38 off 23 deliveries for the first wicket.
The left-handed Gayle faced 26 balls and slammed two fours and three sixes while Walton counted a four and a six off 11 balls, before edging behind to a diving Denesh Ramdin.
Sri Lankan star Kumar Sangakkara then fell cheaply for five in the sixth over, Gayle followed in the eighth while Rovman Powell (2) perished in the 10th, to leave Tallawahs struggling on 67 for four.
However, Russell arrived to play a blinder, belting three fours and 11 sixes as he dominated a 101-run, fifth wicket stand with Shakib who made 19 from 23 balls in a supporting role.
Russell was simply brilliant. He gathered one run from his first four deliveries before exploding in the 11th over with a pair of sixes on either side of the wicket off debutant fast bowler Anderson Phillips.
The right-hander followed up by smashing pacer Ronsford Beaton for 19 runs in the 13th over and another pair of sixes off seamer Kevon Cooper in the next over followed by a single off the first ball of the 15th from medium pacer Dwayne Bravo, saw the batsman to his half-century off 23 balls.
Russell needed a mere 19 more deliveries to reach three figures.
Three leg-side sixes off Beaton in the 17th over propelled him into the 70s and he clobbered Bravo over the ropes at long on and then smashed him to the straight boundary, to motor into the 90s.
He reached his landmark in style, punching Phillips over long on for another six off the first ball of the final over before perishing to the third delivery, taken in the deep by Brendon McCullum.
Needing to score at nearly 11 runs an over to reach the final, TKR lost Umar Akmal for six via the run out route in the second over with the score on nine before Munro and Amla steadied the innings with a 58-run, second wicket partnership.
However, it came off 41 deliveries and when Munro was taken in the deep by Powell off left-arm spinner Imad Wasim at the end of the eighth over, the required run rate was inching towards 16 an over.
Big-hitting McCullum (8) and Bravo (0) held the answers but both failed — falling to catches in in the deep in successive overs — as all hope frittered away for TKR.
SCOREBOARD
TALLAWAHS
C Walton c wkp Ramdin b Cooper 15
*C Gayle c Munro b Cooper 35
+K Sangakkara c Umar Akmal b Narine 5
R Powell c Narine b Bravo 2
Shakib Al Hasan b Cooper 19
A Russell c McCullum b Phillip 100
J Foo run out 8
Imad Wasim not out 0
Extras (w11) 11
TOTAL (7 wkts, 20 overs) 195
Did not bat: O Thomas, G Mathurin, K Williams.
Fall of wickets: 1-38, 2-52, 3-58, 4-67, 5-168, 6-188, 7-195.
Bowling: Beaton 4-0-58-0 (w3), Narine 4-0-22-1 (w1), Cooper 4-0-45-3 (w4), DJ Bravo 4-0-30-1 (w1), Phillip 4-0-40-1 (w2).
KNIGHT RIDERS (target: 130 runs from 12 overs)
H Amla st Sangakkara b Shakib Al Hasan 37
Umar Akmal run out 6
C Munro c Powell b Imad Wasim 38
B McCullum c Walton b Russell 8
S Narine c Thomas b Shakib Al Hasan 6
*DJ Bravo c Powell b Shakib Al Hasan 0
+D Ramdin not out 6
K Cooper c sub (N Bonner) b Russell 0
N Miller not out 1
Extras (lb2, w5, nb1) 8
TOTAL (7 wkts, 12 overs) 110
Did not bat: R Beaton, A Phillip.
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-67, 3-94, 4-100, 5-101, 6-103, 7-103.
Bowling: Russell 3-0-27-2 (w1), Imad Wasim 2-1-7-1, Williams 3-0-38-0 (w2, nb1), Thomas 2-0-13-0, Shakib al Hasan 2-0-23-3.
Result: Tallawahs won by 19 runs.
Series: Tallawahs advance to final.
Man-of-the-Match: Andre Russell
