Trinbago Knight Riders 111 for 1 (Simmons 54*, Webster 44*) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 107 for 7 (Bonner 41, Powell 33, Hosein 3-14, Pierre 2-29) by nine wickets
On the back of a domineering performance with both bat and ball in the fist CPL 2020 semi-final, Trinbago Knight Riders sealed a spot in the final for the fourth time after demolishing Jamaica Tallawahs by nine wickets in a one-sided contest.
At the top, the Knight Riders’ two left-arm spinners – Akeal Hosein and Khary Pierre – shared five wickets to strangle Tallawahs’ in the first innings to restrict them to 107 while in the second innings Lendl Simmons (44-ball 54) and Tion Webster (43-ball 44) shared an unbeaten 97-run stand to chase the target down with five overs to spare.
Knight Riders now await the winner of the second semi-final between Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Lucia Zouks in the final.
Spin twins dominate
As soon as Hosein, with his drifters from around the wicket, finished the game’s first over with a wicket maiden, the Tallawahs had an uphill task that eventually got the better of them. Jermaine Blackwood was the first to go, bowled trying to slog Hosein, and the next over Pierre dismissed the season’s top scorer Glenn Phillips with a ball that held up long enough that the batsman’s cut popped into the hands of point.
The score of 2 for 2 soon became 10 for 3 when pinch hitter Mujeeb ur Rahman – batting at No. 3 for the first time in his T20 career – was caught reverse sweeping at slip, and that became 25 for 4 when Asif Ali was caught off Hosein, his third wicket of the match.
more to follow…