In what was a rain-affected encounter at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad, Jamaica Tallawahs registered their fourth win of CPL 2022, narrowly beating Barbados Royals. This is the first loss for the table-toppers, who were coming off a six-match unbeaten run.
Earlier, the Tallawahs won the toss and put the Royals into bat first. Openers Rahkeem Cornwall and Kyle Mayers, and Corbin Bosch all fell inside the Powerplay to Imad Wasim. At 17/3, the Royals were in some serious need of resurrection when Quinton de Kock stepped up, this time batting at No.4. The southpaw formed a steady partnership with Azam Khan, scoring 7 fours and 3 sixes on the way to his 2nd half-century of the season. Azam was dismissed in the 10th over, which made way for David Miller at the crease. The skipper was dropped early on in his innings, and he made the most of it with his 27-ball 34. The South African duo went on to add 83 runs for the fifth wicket, helping the team finish with 146/6 in their 20 overs.
In response, Brandon King and Amir Jangoo got the Tallawahs off to a flying start with their 55-run opening stand. But it was pacer Obed McCoy who broke the stand once again with his stock slower delivery, sending Jangoo packing to the pavilion. He then returned to dismiss Shamarh Brooks in the 11th over, but King was motoring along at the other end. Rain interrupted proceedings at the halfway mark but play soon resumed with Jason Holder in action. His three-wicket haul included the scalp of King, who was dismissed just four runs shy of his fifty.
With the Tallawahs losing back-to-back wickets, the chase became even more nail-biting, but the rain goods made their presence felt yet again. A six off Rovman Powell's bat in the 17th over helped the Tallawahs get past the required DLS score of 120 runs, in case the match had to be called off. It proved to be the winning hit eventually, as they ended up sealing the result by 6 wickets.