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A brilliant all-round display from the Jamaica Tallawahs condemned the Barbados Royals to a loss in the final of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2022 with opener Brandon King firing in the clutch match after subpar performances in the knockouts. After winning the trophy in 2013 and 2016, the Tallawahs added another title to their cabinet with an easy eight-wicket win over the favourites in the final at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Saturday, October 1.
King was ably backed by his team's bowlers. In the first innings, three-wicket hauls from Fabian Allen and Nicholson Gordon subdued the favourites Barbados Royals. The win came despite adversities, after Mohammad Amir, who had taken nine wickets in the powerplay this season, was ruled out after suffering a groin injury in the second qualifier. His replacement, Migael Pretorius, conceded 24 runs in his two powerplay overs and then hurt himself while attempting a catch in the outfield.
In the absence of their pace spearheads, local seamer Gordon, in his first CPL season, stepped up at the death with figures of 3 for 33.
Batting first, the Royals posted a challenging target of 162 for the Tallawahs to chase down. Azam Khan’s 40-ball 51 with four fours and three sixes guided the Royals to a respectable score. Khan took charge after Rahkeem Cornwall (36) and Kyle Mayers (29) put on 63 runs for the opening wicket in the powerplay.
But it was the left-arm spinner Fabian Allen who launched Tallawahs' fightback after Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall slammed 63 off 35 balls for the first wicket. Allen got rid of the dangerous Cornwall with the last ball of the powerplay for 36 off 21 balls and proceeded to dismiss Mayers soon after. He later sent back Azam Khan, who had top-scored for Royals with 51 off 40 balls. The middle-order couldn’t quite step up as Jason Holder and Najibullah Zadran scored only 23 runs from as many as 31 balls.
With a lowly score between the Tallawahs and the coveted trophy, the Rovman Powell-led side made a terrible start to their run-chase after Mayers got rid of Kennar Lewis for a golden duck. However, an 86-run stand between King and Shamarh Brooks brought them back into the contest.
Shamarh Brooks, who scored a sublime century in the second qualifier against Guyana Amazon Warriors, contributed handsomely with a 33-ball 47 as Tallawahs chased down 162 with plenty to spare at Providence. After Brooks' dismissal on 47, King scored his half-century off 36 balls, also finishing as the leading run-scorer in CPL 2022 with over 400 runs. After he got to his fifty, King upped the ante and made sure that the Royals weren’t able to make a comeback into the game.
It was deja vu for the Royals franchise — they reached the IPL 2022 final but fell short at the final hurdle there as well.
