BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Lendl Simmons returned to form with a half-century marking Trinbago Knight Riders’ return to winning ways, as they brushed aside a scrappy Jamaica Tallawahs by seven wickets here yesterday.
Having scraped only 46 runs in his five previous innings, the experienced opener turned the page on that poor run of form with a bold 70 off 45 deliveries with five fours and sixes, to lead a successful chase of 145 at Warner Park with 17 balls remaining.
Colin Munro weighed in with a run-a-ball 34 as TKR won their third in six outings to move to third in the standings on six points, but alongside fourth placed Guyana Amazon Warriors on points.
“I’m pleased with the two points. It is something that we spoke about, how important this game was for us to get two points,” said TKR skipper Kieron Pollard.
“It has been sort of a hot-cold kind of season. We have been lost, win, lost, win, lost, win so hopefully we can strive for some consistency going forward.”
For Tallawahs, the defeat was their third in five games, leaving them one from bottom on four points, only above the abject Barbados Royals on two points.
Sent in, they slumped to 15 for five at the end of the sixth over and needed Carlos Brathwaite’s 58 off 40 balls and Imad Wasim’s 42 off 38 deliveries, to get up to a competitive total of 144 for seven off their 20 overs.
“I don’t think it was a 15 for five wicket. I think Trinidad bowled good and we played some bad shots in the power-play and I think that brought us our downfall,” lamented Tallawahs captain Rovman Powell. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein (2-12) shared the new ball with fast bowler Ravi Rampaul (2-26) and together they wrecked the Tallawahs top order.
Brathwaite countered with seven fours and a couple of sixes while Imad struck three fours and two fours, the pair posting a critical 83 for the sixth wicket.
When Imad fell in the 17th over, Brathwaite added a further 40 for the seventh wicket with Andre Russell who belted an eight-ball unbeaten 20.
In reply, Sunil Narine fell cheaply for nine in the second over with the score on 11 but Simmons and Munro put on 102 for the second wicket to put the run chase safely back on course.
Munro hit two fours and a six before perishing in the 14th over while Simmons, dropped on 17 and 32, reached his fifty in the 13th over with the second of two successive sixes off speedster Fidel Edwards, before falling in the 15th over.
