CPL 2021: Brandon King's fifty pushes Guyana into top-4, Jamaica improve play-off chances

St. Kitts and Nevis: Guyana Amazon Warriors rode on a fighting batting performance from Brandon King to move back into the top four of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) table with a 17-run victory over the Saint Lucia Kings. The Amazon Warriors won the toss and elected to bat first. They overcame an early loss to post a competitive 151 for six led by Brandon King (77). [caption id=“attachment_9949761” align=“alignnone” width=“640”]  Brandon King’s 77 helped Guyana Amazon Warriors beat Saint Lucia Kings by 17 runs. Image: Twitter/@CPL[/caption] Guyana needing a win to get back into the loop for the play-offs, lost three early wickets in the PowerPlay as Wahab Riaz and Jeavor Royal made early inroads. King rescued the Amazon Warriors with his first CPL 50 of the season but other than Nicholas Pooran’s 25 no batsmen was able to stick with King. Once King fell, Odean Smith was able to add some sixes to take Guyana to a challenging 151. Saint Lucia Kings were circumspect in their reply and were three down with 43 on the board. Gudakesh Motie’s tight spin bowling saw him take two for 12 from his four overs. Roston Chase and Tim David put together an aggressive 75 from 63 balls but just then Naveen Ul-Haq and Odean Smith bowled four excellent overs to seal two crucial points for the Amazon Warriors. In the other match, Jamaica Tallawahs once again beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots with a 22 run victory at Warner Park. The Patriots won the toss and opted to bowl, yet the Tallawahs were able to post a sizeable score of 169/8, largely thanks to some power hitting from captain Rovman Powell and Andre Russell. The Patriots were unable to accelerate and chase the total as Tallawah bowlers Imad Wasim, Veerasammy Permaul and Migael Pretorius helped produce a disciplined bowling performance which earned the franchise their third win of the season. Kennar Lewis and youngster Kirk McKenzie batting through the first five overs gave Tallawahs a steady start. Shamarh Brooks top scored with 43 runs from 39 balls to consolidate, before Powell and Russell hit fast runs to take the score to a substantial total. St Kitts & Nevis Patriots in contrast had an indifferent start, losing batsman Evin Lewis in the second over, followed by captain Chris Gayle. Devon Thomas and Joshua da Silva tried building a foundation but wickets tumbled and only Dominic Drakes later on in the innings was able to strike at the required velocity to chase the target, hitting 22 runs from just 12 balls. Once Drakes was out all hopes of a Patriots win evaporated. Brief scores: Guyana Amazon Warriors 151/6 (King 77, Pooran 25; Wahab 2/16, Royal 2/17) beat Saint Lucia Kings 134/6 (David 47*, Chase 40; Motie 2/12, Smith 2/12) by 17 runs Jamaica Tallawahs 169/8 (Brooks 43, Powell 37, Russell 28; Fawad 2/14, Jaggesar 2/20) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots 147/8 (Thomas 35, da Silva 28; Pretorius 3/26, Permaul 2/31) by 22 runs.