By: T. Chapman
St Kitts and Nevis Patriots won their first game of the 2019 CPL Season during their first home fixture which turned out to be one of the highest-scoring matches ever in the T20 format.
Jamaica Tallawahs who were sent in by the Patriots made a mockery of the Patriots weak bowling attack with Chris Gayle scoring 116 runs off of 62 balls. Chadwick Walton chipped in with 73 as the Tallawahs closed their innings with a record CPL total of 241/4.
Patriots started their innings aggressively, Evin Lewis recorded the fastest CPL fifty as both him and Thomas featured in an opening partnership woth 86 runs. Devon Thomas (71), Laurie Evans (41) and Fabian Allen (37*) all contributed significantly and brought up the victory for the Patriots.
Lewis was also awarded the “Player-of-the-Match” for his 18-ball half-century that got his team off to a terrific start in the run-chase.
The bowlers on both sides had limited success. Rayad Emrit (0/44), Carlos Brathwaite (0/42) and Dominic Drakes (0/47) struggled with the ball for the patriots. While, Fabian Allen (2/30), Alzarri Joseph (2/39) picked up a few timely scalps to tap the Tallawahs run flow.
Later, Jerome Taylor (0/36), Steven Jacobs (0/30), Oshane Thomas (4/53), Andre Russell (2/52), Christopher Lamont (0/32), Shamar Springer (0/36) followed suit and ended up conceding the huge total that Tallawahs had piled on.
Summarized scores:
Jamaica Tallawahs 241/4 in 20 overs (Chris Gayle 116; Fabian Allen 2/30) lost to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 242/6 in 18.5 overs (Devon Thomas 71; 4/53) by four wickets.
