Carribean Premier League 2018: Jamaica Tallawah’s chase
Jamaica Tallawah’s chase of 224 against Trinbago Knight Riders was definitely a mammoth chase in the context of T20. A 200+ score is not off the bounds in the T20 arena but at the same time, a 200+ score is not chased very often either.
Whenever a team scores 200 plus batting first, the spectators in the stadium and the TV audience are very keen to know how the chase would be. Will it be a successful one or will it be a collapse in an attempt to keep up with the required run rate?
This chase was more dramatic than anyone could imagine. Tallawah were 41/5 after 6.1. Andre Russell comes in and top-edged the very first ball only to be dropped by Ali Khan who had by then taken three wickets in his three-over spell.
In spite of that drop, it seemed like a steep chase going downhill. Russell on his captaincy debut did not have a choice.
The required run rate was above 13 and half the side was already back in the pavilion. The only way was going all out and that is what he did. He not only scored the fastest century of the CPL but also helped his team chase down the target with 3 balls to spare.
After the top order debacle, he was fortunate to have a sensible partner in Kennar Lewis who very intelligently took a lot of singles to get Russell on strike. In this process, they equaled the record of partnership for any wicket in CPL which is 161. The also created the world record for the sixth wicket in T20 cricket.
For people who are interested in numbers, there is always an interest to know if this was the highest run chase in T20. Even though a 200 plus score is not chased very often, this was not the highest run chase in T20. The record is held by Australia when they score 245 in 18.3 overs against New Zealand early this year.
Interestingly during the Super Smash 2016, Central District lost against Otago by 1 run chasing 250. So 248 by Central District still remain the highest score in T20 by a side batting second.
It was an exciting chase nevertheless at the end of the day. It was Russell’s night when he made his debut as a captain, took a hat-trick, scored a century and important of all, won the match for his team. Even Dwayne Bravo was forced to bow down to Andre Russell after the match.