PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Glenn Phillips’s unbeaten half-century and Carlos Brathwaite’s three-wicket haul powered Jamaica Tallawahs to a critical 37-run victory over luckless St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League here Saturday.
With just two wins from five outings prior to the contest, Tallawahs needed a win to stay in contention for the semi-finals, and they successfully defended 147 at Queen’s Park Oval to earn a comfortable win in the end which took them to six points and third in the six-team standings.
The effort began with Phillips’s 79 not out which held the innings together and carried Tallawahs to 147 for six off their 20 overs, after they opted to bat first on a slow track.
He faced 61 balls and punched two fours and half-dozen sixes, anchoring a string of small partnerships as the side batted around him.
Phillips put on 28 for the first wicket with Nkrumah Bonner (16), 38 for the second wicket with Jermaine Blackwood who made 27 from 26 balls and a further 26 for the third with Asif Ali (14).
After 10 overs, Phillips was labouring on 13 from 22 balls with Tallawahs finding scoring difficult at 53 for one.
Put down on 27 in the 13th over, Phillips lifted his tempo with three consecutive sixes off left-armer Sheldon Cottrell in the 17th over before gathering 15 from the final one bowled by captain Rayad Emrit who snatched three for 32 from four overs of medium pace.
In reply, Patriots never looked the part and collapsed for 110 in the final over, with Brathwaite finishing with three for 11 from 3.4 overs.
Tallawahs’ spinners played key roles, left-armer Veerasammy Permaul (2-20) and Nepalese leggie Sandeep Lamichhane (2-27) taking two wickets apiece from four-over spells, while new-ball speedster Fidel Edwards finished with two for 39.
Patriots did appear at one stage to be making a fist of it when opener Kieran Powell (21) and Denesh Ramdin (13) were involved in a 34-run second wicket stand, after Edwards had cleaned up Chris Lynn (8) cheaply with the fourth delivery of the innings.
When Permaul had Ramdin taken at the wicket in the eighth over, Patriots lost four wickets for 10 runs off 23 balls and needed a 35-run sixth wicket stand between Evin Lewis (21) and Nick Kelly (16) to halt the slide.
But both fell in successive overs with just two runs added as Brathwaite and Lamichhane crushed the lower order.