Twitter Reactions: Kumar Sangakkara’s 74* ensures St Lucia remain winless
Sangakkara took his team to the third spot and has more or less confirmed their playoff berth.
St Lucia Star’s misery continued as they remained winless in the fifth season of the CPL. Defending champions Jamaica Tallawah’s were too good for the Stars as the former romped home by 6 wickets with an over to spare while chasing 173. The Stars remain at the bottom of the table while Jamaica, with 5 wins from 7 games, are in the third spot with 10 points.
Sangakkara, who replaced Gayle as the skipper of the franchise for this season, called right at the toss and invited the Stars to bat first. The Stars skipper Shane Watson inducted some momentum in the innings after his team was off to a relatively sedate start. In an innings which was filled with 7 sixes, Watson turned the clock back and played some breathtaking strokes thereby lifting his team to a decent total of 172 for 8. He faced 45 balls to get 80, in an innings where nobody crossed the 20-run mark. It wasn’t a monumental total but Jamaica knew that they had to play well to eclipse the target set by the visitors.
Jamaica were off to a good start but lost an early wicket after getting 29 runs on the board. Sangakkara was out in the middle with more than half of the first powerplay still left. He sewed a 42-run stand with opener Glenn Philips (21) and then added 71 for the 3rd wicket with Andre McCarthy (36) to literally shut the door on the Stars. He was adjudged Man of the Match for his unbowed 74 coming off just 45 balls which included 9 boundaries and 3 sixes. This was his first half century of the season and the Tallawah’s will hope that the veteran carries on and make telling contributions in the rest half of the tournament.
Only Shane Watson and Rahkeem Cornwall made an impact with the ball, returning with 1/24 and 1/20 respectively. The Watson-led side is already out of the race for a spot in the top 4 but must play for pride. With just a game in hand, the Stars will be hoping to finish the season off with a win.
Here is how Twitter reacted when Sangakkara’s masterclass overhauled the Stars:
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