In the first semifinal of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020, Akela Hosein scalped three wickets along with Lendl Simmons’s unbeaten knock of 54 runs helped Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) to win the Jamaica Tallawahs by nine wickets at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium on Tuesday. On the other hand, St Lucia Zouks have also reached the final after securing a 10-wicket win over Guyana Amazon Warriors in the second semi-final.
St Lucia Zouks bundled out Guyana Amazon Warriors on just 55 runs, the second-lowest total in CPL, before easily chasing the target in under five overs. Now, Trinbago Knight Riders will be locking horns with St Lucia Zouks in the finals of CPL 2020 on Thursday, September 10.
Chasing 108, Trinbago Knight Riders lost the only wicket of Sunil Narine (4) in the second over of the innings as he was clean bowled by Mujeeb Ur Rahman, and the team was reduced to 14/1. However, Simmons and Tion Webster made sure that TKR doesn’t suffer any more hiccups as they added 97 runs for the second wicket to keep the side on course for a victory. Simmons and Webster remained unbeaten on 54 and 44 respectively to guide Trinbago Knight Riders to register a 9-wicket win with 5 overs to spare.
ALSO READ: Jasprit Bumrah Imitates Legendary Bowlers In Mumbai Indians Nets
Earlier, a spirited bowling performance helped Trinbago Knight Riders restrict Jamaica Tallawahs to just 107/7 in their quota of 0 overs. After being reduced to 63/5, the big-hitting batsman Andre Russell (2) was given out wrongly when the on-field umpire sent him back to the pavilion on the bowling of Sunil Narine. He was given out caught at slip but the replays clearly showed that the ball came straight off the pad.
In the final overs, Trinbago Knight Riders were able to maintain tight line and length and as a result, Tallawahs couldn’t even manage to surpass the 110-run mark.
ALSO READ: St. Lucia Zouks – The Underdogs Who Fired At Right Moments
In the second semi-final, chasing the 56-run target, Rahkeem Cornwall smashed two sixes in the very first over, and along with Mark Deyal, they amassed 26 runs off the first two overs. Both batsmen maintained the attacking mindset despite chasing a low target and took their team to get over the line by the fifth over. Cornwall scored 32 runs while Deyal played a knock of 19 runs.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Guyana Amazon Warriors had lost two wickets in the first over of the innings. Brandon King was caught behind while Shimron Hetmyer was bowled by Scott Kuggeleijn followed by the dismissal of Nicholas Pooran, who was dismissed by Mohammad Nabi. Ross Taylor was the next batsman but he was dismissed LBW off Roston Chase’s delivery.
The fall of wickets did not stop and Hemraj also went back to the pavilion in the 13th over, bowled by Mark Deyal. On the next delivery, Deyal caught and bowled Romario Shepherd. Zahir Khan bowled the 14th over and picked two wickets to end opponents’ innings on 55 runs. Kuggeleijn, Zahir Khan, Deyal, and Chase all picked two wickets each in the match.
Brief Scores:
Semi-final 1 – Trinbago Knight Riders: 111/1 (L Simmons: 54*, T Webster: 44*; M Rahman: 1-18) defeat Jamaica Tallawahs: 107/7 (N Bonne:r 41; K Pierre: 2/29, A Hosein: 3-14) by nine wickets.
Semi-final 2 – St. Lucia Zouks: 56/0 (R Cornwall: 32*, M Deyal: 44*; C Green: 0-16) defeat Guyana Amazon Warriors: 55 all-out (C Hemraj: 25; 41, Z Khan: 2-12, S Kuggeleijn: 2-12) by ten wickets.
