CPL 2023: How did the international players fare in Jamaica Tallawahs vs Barbados Royals, Match 14?
The 14th fixture of the 2023 CPL edition between Jamaica Tallawahs and Barbados Royals on September 1 saw one of the most spectacular comebacks made by Barbados Royals after getting blown away by the Knight Riders in their previous fixture.
Alick Athanaze was the star of the show, playing a match-winning knock to power his side to a thumping win against the Tallawahs. Mayers and Cornwall ate dot after dot in the powerplay and gave the Royals a very poor start.
But, that did not deter Alick Athanaze one bit as he played his natural game. He played the big shots but also nudged them around for ones and twos followed by his innovative reverse sweeps.
The young kid showed great maturity and clarity in shot selection. Laurie Evans played a lovely hand in that 89-run stand with Athanaze which eventually helped the Royals race through to their target in 19 overs.
As this fixture officially comes to an end, let’s take a quick glance to find out how our international stars fared in today’s game.
Brandon King (JT)
The highest run scorer of the ongoing CPL edition could not get going with the bat. He perished for just 1 (6) during the second over of the first innings after playing a mistimed uppish shot over a short backward point against Jason Holder.
Alex Hales (JT)
Alex Hales could only smash 2 boundaries in his entire innings and amassed just 12(10). He was dismissed by Jason Holder during the last over of the powerplay as he tried to go aerial but couldn’t clear Laurie Evans at long off.
Kirk McKenzie (JT)
Kirk put up a disastrous show with the bat which significantly slowed the scoring rate of Jamaica Tallawahs during the powerplay overs. He scored just 7(11) which comprised one solitary boundary and perished to Jason Holder after holing out to Laurie Evans at deep square.
Shamarh Brooks (JT)
Shamarh Brooks played a blinder of an innings for the Tallawahs and scored a gritty 78 (41) to add life to the Tallawahs innings. His innings comprised 7 fours and 4 sixes. His partnership with Imad Wasim was absolutely crucial in helping Jamaica Tallawahs set up a decent target. He eventually fell to Qais Ahmad during the 17th over of the first innings.
Raymon Reifer (JT)
Reifer made a handy contribution with the bat during the middle phase of the Tallawahs chase scoring 16 (20) which comprised just one boundary. He tried to take the Royals’ bowlers on but Qais Ahmad got the better of him by bowling a delightful wrong-un to dismiss him during the 13th over.
Imad Wasim (JT)
Imad played a lovely hand of 33 off 24 which featured 2 fours and 2 sixes. He formed a vital match-defining partnership with Shamarh Brooks which gave the Tallawahs much-needed momentum during the middle overs.
He finished off the innings for his side with a few lusty blows to take them to 160. However, he did not quite have the same impact with the ball. Imad proved to be quite expensive and went at 12 RPO with only 1 wicket to his name.
Fabian Allen (JT)
Fabian did not get a chance to bowl in the game. However, he got a chance to bat during the first innings where he only scored 2 (4) before getting cast by Van Der Merwe during the 19th over.
Mohammad Amir (JT)
Amir did not get the opportunity to bat in the first innings. However, he bowled a decent spell in the second innings and kept Barbados Royals’ scoring rate under check while he had the ball in hand.
He finished with figures of 0/23 in his four overs spell conceding only 3 fours and bowling 13 dots.
Rahkeem Cornwall (BR)
Cornwall tried to cut loose right from the word go and played some powerful shots around the park before getting dismissed by Imad Wasim.
He scored 17 (15) which included 2 fours and a six. His stay came to an end during the 6th over of the second innings.
Kyle Mayers (BR)
Mayers was simply unplayable with the ball in the first innings. He bowled a lovely line with the new ball and got the ball to shape around at decent clicks. He finished with brilliant figures of ⅛ in his 3 overs which featured 11 dots and a prize wicket of Kirk McKenzie.
However, he proved to be very lackluster with the bat and consumed far too many dots. He was dismissed by Chris Green for a paltry score of just 4(14) in the 4th over.
Alick Athanaze (BR)
Alick Athanaze was adjudged Player of the Match for his match-winning knock of 76 off 48 and smashed 7 fours and 3 sixes. After getting off to a slow start, the required run rate for the Royals kept soaring at a rapid pace.
But, Alick played a calm and collected inning to bring the required rate down before going back to the pavilion. His stay came to an end during the penultimate over of the match allowing the Tallawahs to momentarily slip back into the game.
Jason Holder (BR)
Jason Holder bowled an outstanding spell of 2/19 in his allotted 4 overs which prevented the Tallawahs from posting an imposing total. He bowled 13 dots in his spell and conceded just 2 fours and 1 wide while picking up two major wickets of Brandon King and Alex Hales.
He came into bat later in the second innings and hit the winning runs for his side which took Royals comfortably over the finishing line with 6 balls to spare.
Rovman Powell (BR)
Rovamn stayed till the end with Holder and scored an unbeaten 10 (8) to steer Barbados to a famous 6-wicket win. He hit just one boundary in his rather short-lived innings.
Roelof van der Merwe (BR)
Roelof did not get a chance to bat but had a decent spell with the ball conceding 28 runs in his 3 overs. Although he proved to be a little on the higher side, Roelof picked up a crucial wicket of Fabian Allen against the run of play and conceded just 1 four and 2 sixes.
Qais Ahmad (BR)
Qais bowled a very expensive spell in today’s game going at almost 11 RPO in his allotted 4 overs.
But during his expensive spell, the Afghani leg-spinner managed to remove Shamarh Brooks and Raymon Reifer and bowled 10 dots in total.
Obed McCoy (BR)
Obed McCoy finished wicketless in this match finishing with figures of 0/35 in his three overs. He leaked runs at over 11 RPO and was overall pretty wayward with his bowling. He conceded 3 fours and 2 sixes in his entire spell.
Note: Regional (uncapped) players from West Indies have not been featured in the article