Caribbean Premier League 2020: Day 5 - Twitter Reactions

The fifth day of the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) saw two more matches being played at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium. The first clash of the day was between the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and St Lucia Zouks. After being invited to bat first, the Zouks got off to a great start thanks to Andre Fletcher who smashed 46 off just 33 deliveries.

His opening partner Rahkeem Cornwall walked off in the third over for being unwell. Mark Deyal’s arrival upped the run-rate too scoring 30 off 17 deliveries before getting out. Najibullah Zadran played a handy knock but it was Mohammad Nabi (35*) who gave the final impetus to the innings. The Zouks reached 172 runs for the loss of six wickets in 20 overs with Jon-Russ Jaggesar (2/29) and Rayad Emrit (1/14) bowling well for Patriots.

The Patriots began their chase decently but lost their way in the middle due to their brittle middle-order. After walking in at 40/2, Denesh Ramdin stuck it out only to see his teammates going back to the dug-out. Eventually, even he succumbed to the pressure in the 16th over but not before scoring 46 off 35 balls. The Patriots lost their eighth wicket in the 18th over. But even then Sheldon Cottrell slammed an unbeaten 26 off just 11 deliveries to keep the hopes alive.

But his efforts were just weren’t enough for the team to get over the line. The Patriots could reach 162 runs in their 20 overs and lost the match by 10 runs. Scott Kuggeleijn was the best bowler for the Zouks picking 4/33 in his four overs.

Warriors defend 118 despite Andre Russell’s blitz

Guyana Amazon Warriors and Jamaica Tallawahs faced in the 8th match of the CPL 2020. The latter side opted to field first after winning the toss only to see Brandon King and Chandrapaul Hemraj tee off in the powerplay. They scored 56 runs before King got out and this triggered a sensational collapse. Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Sandeep Lamichhane spun a web around the opposition batsmen.

The Warriors were reduced to 97/7 from being 56/0 in the space of 10 overs. Carlos Brathwaite also picked three wickets. It was Naveen-ul-Haq who played a patient knock of 14 runs off 17 balls to take the team to 118 before getting bowled out in the last over. At the half-way stage, it seemed as if, the Tallawahs will easily chase down the score.

But that wasn’t the case. In the fourth over itself, they were left reeling at 4/3 with Chadwick Walton and Glenn Philips bagging ducks. Rovman Powell and Asif Ali tried resurrecting the innings but there was no pace. At one stage, the team was struggling at 59/7 after 16 overs.

This is where the beast in Andre Russell took over. He smashed the ball to all parts of the ground but had no support from the other end. The all-rounder ended up unbeaten on 52 off 37 balls with four fours and five huge maximums. However, even then, the Tallawahs fell short by 14 runs to end on 104/7 after 20 overs.

After these two matches, the Warriors are at the top of the points table while the Zouks have climbed to the third position. The Patriots are yet to open their account after three matches and the Tallawahs have lost their way a bit after winning the opening encounter.

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