12 July,Bridgetown (CRICKETNMORE): Rain severely curtailed the action at the Kensington Oval in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) match between Barbados Tridents and Jamaica Tallawahs. In the end there was only 10 overs of play possible, sadly not enough cricket for there to be a result. The highlight in proceedings was the batting of Chris Gayle who gave the patient Bridgetown crowd some real entertainment.
Ahead of the game, a moment’s reflection was paid by the strong crowd to the recently departed and much-loved broadcaster, and a favourite son of Barbados, Tony Cozier.
Once the on again, off again rigmarole with the covers at the start of the game was done the game was reduced to 12 overs a side. In a shortened match it is so important to get off to a good start, and the Tallawahs struggled to get going. Some excellent bowling from Wayne Parnell and Ravi Rampaul saw the Tallawahs manage only 21 runs in the first three overs.
The fourth and final over of the reduced PowerPlay was where the Jamaican side kicked on. Thirteen runs came from Rampaul’s second over, including a massive straight six from Chris Gayle as that sluggish start was quickly forgotten.
A 47 run opening stand between Gayle and Chadwick Walton got the Tallawahs laid a good platform but the introduction of Shoaib Malik into the attack brought the partnership to an end. Walton attempted to smash Shoaib over long off but only succeeded in finding the ever dependable hands of AB de Villiers.
The fall of Walton’s wicket brought together Kumar Sangakkara and Chris Gayle and the two cricketing legends put together a brilliant stand of 59 from just 23 balls. Gayle was brutal on anything that was pitched up on his way to 47 (20).
Sangakkara fell for 25 when he attempted to give himself room and smash to ball over extra cover; he was deceived by a Rampaul slower ball that crashed into his stumps. A brief cameo from Rovman Powell saw him hit a big six but it was that man Gayle who was the star of the show as he went at a strike rate of 235 in an innings that contained five Maximums.
Gayle looked set for yet another half century but the rain returned 10 overs into the Tallawahs' innings and it brought the match to an end. Despite the best efforts of the Kensington Oval ground staff the rain won the day.
This no result gives each of the sides a point each and moves the Tallawahs to second in the table with a game in hand over their nearest rivals.
Image: CPL/Sportsfile