The Jamaica Tallawahs have put themselves back in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) winners’ circle with a 21-run win over the St Lucia Stars at the Darren Sammy Stadium in Gros Islet.
In a surprise move, Andre Russell, captain of the Tallawahs, chose to bat in St Lucia and it immediately looked like a good decision with his side posting a challenging 204-5 before restricting the Stars to 183-8.
Rovman Powell, 64, was the man of the moment for the Tallawahs, scoring his first T20 half century to lead the Jamaican franchise’s charge.
In truth, there were good innings right throughout the Tallawahs innings as Glen Phillips scored 17 from eight before being drawn into a false shot from Kesrick Williams, while Johnson Charles was powerful in his innings of 34 from 24 deliveries.
Kenar Lewis, batting at number three found scoring freely a little tricky but he did get to 33 from 34 balls before he eventually went.
Lewis’ innings was, in fact, unwittingly the perfect foil for Powell, who batting at number fou, got to his 64 from just 37 deliveries.
Andre Russell had another failure with the bat, going caught at a very, very straight mid off by Darren Sammy off the bowling of Williams.
Williams would end with figures of 3-34, but not before the 13-ball carnage that would come from the bat of David Miller.
Miller raced to 32 from 13 balls, striking three sixes and two fours which took the Tallawahs past the psychological 200-run barrier.
The Stars reply started brightly, as opener Mark Champman drove Oshane Thomas square of the wicket quite beautifully on the first ball of the day.
However, when he went to do it again, a diving Adam Zampa had him caught on the third-man boundary in spectacular fashion.
Andre Fletcher, who has been in exquisite form for the Stars played a few sublime shots as he tried to push his strike rate to keep up with the massive total but just as he was getting into his stride, Powell had him caught with the very first ball of his spell for 21.
Before that, Rahkeem Cornwall had fallen victim to Imad Wasim and another brilliant catch, this time by Andre Russell at mid off.
David Warner and Kieron Pollard came to together and had a massive task in front of them.
The two looked like getting somewhere, as Warner, after a streaky start, began to middle the ball and struck some wonderful boundaries, including a straight six off Zampa that challenged for the shot of the day.
But when Warner, having taken 13 from Zampa’s over already, went across the line, with his tally on 42, Johnson Charles’ diving effort at short fine leg, dented the Stars run chase.
Pollard continued to strike the ball beautifully, never looking in any real trouble, while Lendl Simmons ran singles to get himself into something like form.
Pollard struck Russell for a six over his head before lifting a delivery over cover for a handsome-looking four to get to 46 from 27 deliveries. Then disaster.
Russell struck back, bowling Pollard with a yorker that had a little shape away and a lot of pace.
The game should have been over at 156-5 in the 17th over but Simmons had begun to cut loose and made the Stars fans dream.
Simmons raced to 45 from 26 deliveries but it wasn’t enough after Russell had Darren Sammy caught and bowled, and Thomas pushed one past Qais Ahmad’s edge.
Thomas ended with 2-27 from three overs, while Russell had 2-15 from his three.
Powell came in for a little bit of stick but his 1-42 was important. Zampa was also expensive, three overs going for 39 but his one wicket was timely.
The Tallawahs, after seven games, are now back at the top of the CPL table with eight points, while the Stars, who have played eight, are at the foot of the table with four.
The Barbados Tridents also have four points but they have only played four games.
The St Kitts and Nevis Patriots have six points from five games but are second ahead of the Trinbago Knight Riders, who have the same number of points from the same number of games but a lower net run rate.
Just below that are the Guyana Amazon Warriors who also have an identical point tally from five games but have the worst net run rate of the three.
Paul-Andre is the Managing Editor at SportsMax.tv. He comes to the role with almost 20 years of experience as journalist. That experience includes all facets of media. He began as a sports Journalist in 2001, quickly moving into radio, where he was an editor before becoming a news editor and then an entertainment editor with one of the biggest media houses in the Caribbean.
Ashes 2019: Archer has shaken up series – Root
Jofra Archer has shaken up the Ashes after living up to the hype on his Test debut, according to England captain Joe Root.
An intriguing finish to the second Test at Lord's was in store when England declared on 258-5 in the second session, setting Australia 267 to win or bat out the final 48 overs for a draw on Sunday.
It was the latter scenario which came to fruition as the tourists, missing Steve Smith because of the concussion he suffered following an Archer bouncer, batted out for a draw, meaning Tim Paine's side retained a 1-0 lead in the series.
However, in Archer – who returned match figures of 5-91 from a heavy workload of 44 overs – England have fresh optimism heading into the third Test at Headingley, with Smith's availability for an encounter that begins on Thursday in "serious doubt".
"He's come in and he really has made a massive impact, added a different dynamic to our bowling group," Root said at a news conference.
"I think [he] has given Australia something different to think about so it's really pleasing to see someone come in on Test debut and really shake up things and live up to the hype, even some of the hype that he put on himself.
"It's really pleasing to see and it makes for a very interesting last three games."
It was one of Archer's rockets that clattered into Smith's neck and knocked Australia's talisman down on Saturday.
Though Smith returned to complete his innings later that day, Australia announced on Sunday that he would play no further part at Lord's having shown concussion symptoms when he woke up.
Smith's concussion replacement in their XI, Marnus Labuschagne, then copped another vicious delivery on the helmet grille from Archer, who had sent back David Warner and Usman Khawaja inside the opening six overs.
Labuschagne survived that onslaught and went on to make a crucial 59, but Root feels Barbados-born seamer Archer can be instrumental as his side seek to retain the urn.
"He makes things happen when not many others in world cricket can," Root added.
"He's got such a unique action and way of bowling and natural pace which is always going to be in the game on any surface. When you've got that and the skill of the other guys around it, it makes for a tasty combination.
"It will make them think about what way they're going to combat how he's going to come at them.
"It's always nice when you're stood at slip and not batting against him. It's very different to the other options that we've had previously and have in this team, it's a different skill."
Ashes 2019: Paine hails Labuschagne as Australia claim draw to retain series advantage
Australia captain Tim Paine lauded Marnus Labuschagne's commitment to the Ashes cause as Steve Smith's concussion replacement produced a gritty half-century in his side's draw with England.
Paine's team were set 267 to win inside 48 overs on the final day at Lord's after the hosts declared on 258-5 following a century from Ben Stokes (115 not out).
However, they were more concerned with batting out the day when Jofra Archer swiftly removed David Warner and Usman Khawaja to bring Labuschagne to the crease.
The 25-year-old was only thrust into the action as the first concussion substitute in Test history after Smith withdrew having been struck on the neck on Saturday by a bouncer from Archer, who then delivered a 91.6 miles-per-hour rocket that flew into Labuschagne's helmet grille and knocked him to the ground.
After receiving treatment on the field, Labuschagne went on to make a valuable 59, sharing an 85-run stand with Travis Head (42 not out) that took the game beyond England's reach – Australia eventually finishing with 154-6 to retain their 1-0 series lead.
"[It was] really pleasing for us to see him do that, particularly after the second ball he copped," Paine, speaking to Sky Sports, said of Labuschagne.
"To get 150 kilometres per hour in the face and be able to stand up and play the way he did, for such a young player in Test cricket, was fantastic. Travis Head was the same."
Smith had returned to bat on Saturday following assessment from Australia's medical staff, yet it was confirmed on the final day that he would play no further part in the Test having displayed concussion symptoms in the morning.
Australia have said it is unlikely that their talismanic batsman will feature in the third Test, which begins at Headingley on Thursday.
"He's okay," Paine revealed.
"Obviously it was a really nasty knock. He felt okay yesterday and then, as concussions tend to be, [the symptoms were] delayed. He woke up, not feeling at his best today, so the decision was made to leave him out."
Asked whether he was happy that Smith was able to return on Saturday, Paine added: "I'm no doctor but we've got some professionals behind the scenes that make those decisions.
"Steve passed all his tests [on Saturday], was feeling okay. He deteriorated a little bit overnight, he retested, they weren't as good this morning so the medical professionals made that call.
"He will need to improve [to play at Headingley], there's no doubt about that, but hopefully for our sake he does improve in the next few days."
Ashes 2019: Labuschagne steps up in Smith's absence as Australia survive Archer onslaught for Lord's draw
Australia overcame Steve Smith's absence and survived another venomous spell from Jofra Archer to draw the second Test with England and retain their slender advantage in the Ashes.
An intriguing, rain-affected encounter at Lord's concluded with neither side able to forge a positive result, despite England bidding to force the issue when declaring on 258-5 in the second session after Ben Stokes (115 not out) had posted a century.
Joe Root's attack had enough incentive with 48 overs remaining, while a target of 267 was also encouraging for the tourists, even if Smith was unavailable having displayed concussion symptoms on Sunday after copping an Archer bouncer on the third day.
Archer (3-32) dismissed David Warner and Usman Khawaja inside the opening six overs, but Smith's concussion replacement Marnus Labuschagne's gritty half-century effectively ended England's hopes, despite Jack Leach (3-37) striking with back-to-back deliveries and Joe Denly's brilliant catch, as Australia ended on 154-6.
Rain prevented play from starting for 70 minutes, Stokes and Jos Buttler (31) continuing their fifth-wicket stand in the first session to increase England's lead to 165.
Buttler top-edged Pat Cummins (3-35) to Josh Hazlewood at long leg after lunch before Stokes, then on 55, survived a review following an lbw appeal from Nathan Lyon.
Alongside Jonny Bairstow (30 not out), Stokes pushed on, dispatching Lyon over the ropes from successive deliveries as the advantage increased past 200.
A single to square leg gave Stokes his seventh Test century and Root called his batsmen in at the end of the following over to give Archer and his bowling colleagues an opportunity to level the series.
Archer provided early optimism when he snared Warner (5), who prodded to Rory Burns at gully to continue his dreadful Ashes, and then drew the edge of Khawaja (2), bringing Labuschagne, the first concussion substitute in Test history, to the crease.
There was no gentle introduction to Archer's searing speed as Labuschagne was caught flush on the helmet grille from his second delivery, a 91.6mph rocket that knocked him off his feet before he bolted back up.
Cameron Bancroft (16) was trapped in front by Leach but Labuschagne and Travis Head put on 85, with second slip Jason Roy shelling a chance to remove the latter when the alliance was worth 49.
Labuschagne (59) evntually fell in controversial circumstances, Root diving forward at midwicket to take a catch and benefitting from a soft signal of out when replays proved inconclusive.
As he walked off, the batsman expressed his disapproval to England's captain, whose team were soon celebrating again when Matthew Wade picked out short leg from Leach's next ball.
That gave the spinner three wickets - and Archer matched that total when Denly produced a fantastic one-handed catch to remove Tim Paine - but Head (42 not out) and Cummins (1 not out) ensured Australia held on.
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