Image courtesy of: St Lucia News Online
Jamaica won the inaugural edition of the CPL
The Jamaica Tallawahs were crowned champions of the inaugural edition of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) after breezing past the Guyana Amazon Warriors by seven wickets.
Jamaica captain Chris Gayle won the toss and elected to field first.
The decision definitely seemed to be the right one as pace bowler David Bernard dismissed William Perkins and Sri Lanka flamboyant batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan in quick succession.
However, a 52-run partnership between opening batsman Lendl Simmons and wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin stabilised the innings before Simmons was on his way back to the pavilions after being caught out off the bowling of Nikita Miller for 40 off 44 balls, which included three boundaries and two sixes.
Ramdin ended up scoring 29 off 34 balls, which included two boundaries and a six before he was clean bowled by Gayle.
New Zealand all-rounder James Franklin smashed 17 runs off nine deliveries, which included two maximums, to lead the Amazon Warriors to 128 at the end of their 20 overs.
Bernard was the pick of Jamaica’s bowlers with two wickets, while Miller and Gayle snapped up one wicket apiece.
With a relatively straightforward target of 129 separating them from the title, the Tallawahs got off to a rocky start as opening batsman Chadwick Walton was dismissed by Dilshan for 13 runs.
Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman Kumar Sangakkara also failed to make much of a contribution as he was on his way back to the pavilion for just 13 runs as well.
Sri Lanka pace demon Lasith Malinga then took an easy caught and bowled as Guyana looked to be clawing their way back into the match.
However, just as Guyana were riding high on their newfound momentum, Russell strode to the crease and from there on Jamaica had the upper hand.
Russell and Gayle recorded an impressive 62-run partnership at a run rate of 10.94 to lead the Tallawahs to victory.
Gayle finished on 47 off 48 balls, which included six boundaries, while Russell remained unbeaten on 33 off 18 deliveries, which included five boundaries and a six.
Malinga, Dilshan and Christopher Barnwell all picked up one wicket each as Guyana could do nothing more than look on is utter despair as the Tallawahs celebrated and lifted the CPL trophy.