St Kitts & Nevis, Aug 28 (Cricket news) Andre Russell bludgeoned his way to a record 14-ball unbeaten 50 as Jamaica Tallawahs hammered St Lucia Kings by 120 runs in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) here.
It was the biggest win in CPL history by run-margin.
Jamaica were 255 for five in 20 overs with the help of useful contributions from all their batters. In reply, the Kings succumbed under the pressure to score and were bowled out for 135.
Put into bat, Jamaica were off to a lightning start, thanks to Kennar Lewis (48 in 22) with five massive sixes.
Chadwick Walton (47), Haider Ali (45) and Rovman Powell (38) also provided valuable contributions. After that it was "Dre Russ show".
Striking at a rate of 357, Russell smashed six maximums and a three fours in his unbeaten 50-run knock.
When the Kings started the chase, wickets fell at regular intervals and they were 56 for 6. Only Tim David (56 in 28) held out for a while.
CPL debutant Migael Pretorius was the star with the ball for the Jamaica and had figures of 4/32 as the Kings stumbled to 135 all out.
Also read: Guyana stun defending champs Trinbago Knight Riders in CPL opener
In another match, defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders, who lost their opening game, quickly got back onto the rails with a six-wicket victory over Barbados Royals.
Barbados Royals won the toss and opted to bat first but the decision didn't go their way as an excellent Trinbago bowling display, led by Isuru Udana's 5/21, restricted them to 122 all out.
In reply, Trinbago initially made hard work of the chase before the experienced duo of Kieron Pollard and Denesh Ramdin saw them home with ease.
The Royals had got off to a steady start reaching 37 runs at the end of the powerplay for the sole loss of Johnson Charles.
However, they could not build on the foundation as Udana's double strike removed Jason Holder and Glenn Phillips in quick succession.
A counter-attacking 30 runs from Azam Khan briefly threatened to help Barbados set an imposing target but Udana's re-entry into the attack led to the dismissal of both Khan and Thisara Perera to complete the first five wicket haul of the CPL season.
Trinbago stuttered in their chase of the target losing three wickets in the powerplay as Mohammed Amir started his spell with laser like accuracy and Oshane Thomas followed that up by getting Tim Seifert to top-edge a rising delivery to deep square leg.
At 38/4 the Knight Riders were in a perilous situation, but captain Pollard took on the responsibility to take the drama out of the chase with a brilliantly constructed 58 runs from 30 balls.
Along with the experienced Ramdin, the pair put on an 87-run partnership from 57 balls to see Trinbago home comfortably.
News source: PTI
