Tallawahs start with a win over defending champions Patriots in Hero CPL

Basseterre, [Saint Kitts and Nevis], September 2 (ANI): St Kitts & Nevis Patriots started their campaign with a loss in their title defence of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). The defending champions lost their match by 47 runs on Thursday against Jamaica Tallawahs.
After being invited to bat first, the Tallawahs scored 183 for two in 20 overs. The innings was propelled by Brandon King's scintillating knock of 89 along with Kennar Lewis's 48 who missed his half-century by a narrow margin. The explosive duo put on 116 runs for the opening wicket.
Their bowlers joined in the party too as they bowled out Patriots for 136 with only Sherfane Rutherford (33) and Fletcher putting up a resistance.
The Patriots' decision to bowl first after winning the toss did not work out as a sparkling 89 off 57 balls from King and support from Lewis gave them a huge advantage while defending their total of 183 for two.
For Patriots, Duan Jansen bowled a fine opening spell of three overs, but once King got his eye in there was no stopping him. He took 14 and 19 runs respectively off Akila Dananjaya and Jon Russ Jaggesar to ensure the Tallawahs ended the Power Play on 48/0.
Though King was in full flow, his partner Lewis was lucky as he escaped being run out twice, but he rode his luck to stitch a century partnership. He was also dropped twice en route to his 48.
Lewis finally departed for 48, bringing in the Tallawahs captain, Rovman Powell, who scored a quickfire 30 not out from 15 balls.
The Patriots were never really in the game in their reply as their innings never took off. Evin Lewis, Dewald Brevis and Darren Bravo all fell inside the first half of the innings which left the Patriots tottering, needing 12.5 runs per over. This turned out to be an uphill task for the remaining batters, despite some fireworks from Sherfane Rutherford. Nicholson Gordon stole the show with the ball for Tallawahs taking three for 24 to ensure a comfortable victory for the Tallawahs.
Brief scores: Jamaica Tallawahs: 183 for 2 in 20 overs: (Brandon King 89, Kennar Lewis 48, Rovman Powell 30 not out) beat St Kitts & Nevis Patriots: 138 all out in 18 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 33, Andre Fletcher 31, Nicholson Gordon 3/32, Imad Wasim 2/20, Migeael Pretorius 2/35) by 47 runs. (ANI)