Jamaica Tallawahs Annihilate Barbados Royals To Win The CPL T20 2022 Final
The Barbados Royals' captain Kyle Mayers won the toss and chose to bat first on a pitch that looked promising for batters. However, they could only manage 161 runs on the board thanks to some fantastic bowling by the eventual champions.
The Jamaica Tallawahs completed the run chase with 23 balls to spare and having only two wickets down.
The Jamaica Tallawahs have won the CPL T20 for the third time in history, after securing the inaugural title in 2013 before regaining it in 2016.
Azam Khan Of Barbados Royals: Future Of Pakistan Cricket?
Despite finishing on the losing side, Azam Khan once again was prolific for the Barbados Royals. The right-handed batsman scored 51 off 40 balls with four fours and three sixes.
However, Khan was running short of partners as Jason Holder was the only player to reach double figures after him. Najibullah Zadran was one of the huge reasons behind the loss in momentum for the Barbados Royals, as he only scored six runs off 12 balls.
In his last four CPL T20 2022 innings, Khan has scored a half-century in three of them. Now the big question is that after success in PSL and CPL T20 2022, will Pakistan bring the 24-year-old into their plans?
The wicketkeeping department is already stacked with Muhammad Rizwan scoring runs for fun and Muhammad Haris showing many encouraging signs as a backup keeper. However, the problem for them is the fragile middle order.
The Pakistani batting order is too reliant on the likes of Babar Azam and Rizwan to bail them out on every occasion. If one of those world-class batsmen misses out on a huge score, the middle order starts to crumble.
They had to virtually get rescued by some of their tail-enders like Naseem Shah to get over the finishing line in some matches.
With the way Khan has performed throughout this CPL campaign, he can surely do better than the current Pakistan middle order.
Fabian Allen and Imad Wasim restrict the Barbados Royals
Many fans considered the Jamaica Tallawahs the underdogs before the first ball was bowled. Their spearhead, Muhammad Amir, was ruled out of the CPL final due to a groin injury.
The former Pakistani international has taken a chart-topping nine wickets in the powerplay overs of CPL T20 2022.
The deficiency clearly showed as his replacement, Migael Pretorius, conceded 24 runs in his two powerplay overs. Furthermore, he also experienced injury concerns as he jarred his back while trying to take a catch in the outfield.
With the seamers struggling, it was the spinners who took center stage. The finger spinner Allen brought the Jamaica Tallawahs back into the contest after breaking the partnership of 63 runs off 35 balls between Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall.
Allen sent back Cornwall on the last ball of the powerplay. He got two more wickets than Mayers and Khan respectively.
Imad Wasim, who was the man of the match in the 2016-winning final of the Jamaica Tallawahs, bowled wicket to wicket and didn't give Khan any room to free his arms.
With the Islamabad United man struggling to score boundaries against spin, Holder tried to take the initiative. However, the West Indies all-rounder missed a slog and was castled by Wasim for just 17.
Although Khan scored a half-century in the final, he was never able to hit another gear as we have seen in so many of his previous innings. One of the biggest reasons for that was how the Jamaica Tallawahs' spinners bowled.
Just like Khan, Wasim is another player who wants to make a comeback to the Pakistan team. However, he has to keep his head down and play like he is playing right now as Mohammad Nawaz is performing well for the Greens.
Nicholson Gordon Shows Brilliance In The Death Overs
With Amir not playing, it was Nicholson Gordon who took the responsibility for the death overs.
The 30-year-old was not even needed during the Eliminator against Saint Lucia Kings. However, the skipper Rovman Powell needed him to do the all-important job of bowling at the death.
The right-arm fast bowler was extremely clever with his variety. He mostly bowled in the wicket to get the better of Zadran, Devon Thomas, and Corbin Bosch respectively. He finished with figures of three wickets for 33 runs in his four overs.
It is never easy to be thrown into the deep end of your first CPL campaign. However, Gordon stepped up to the plate and repaid his skipper's faith.
With his performance in the CPL T20 final, he has shown that his performance in the inaugural 6ixty preceding the CPL season was no fluke.
Brandon King Brings The Jamaica Tallawahs Home
Before CPL T20 2022 started, skipper Powell has shown a lot of confidence in the Jamaican youngsters in their quest for improbable success.
Brandon King and Allen moved to the Jamaica Tallawahs from Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Kitts and Nevis Patriots respectively. It was quite fitting that both players played contrasting roles in the success of their franchise in 2022.
Although the eventual champions were on the back foot early as Kennar Lewis was removed in the first over, King was large and in charge. Firstly, he repaired the damage by creating an 86-run partnership off 58 balls alongside Shamarh Brooks.
Brooks kept up his great batting form after his maiden T20 century against the Amazon Warriors in the second qualifier. The 34-year-old scored 47 runs off 33 balls before being sent back by Holder.
King was instrumental in his knock throughout. He started slowly by seeing off the new ball. He was at a run-a-ball strike rate at one point with 25 runs scored off 25 balls.
Soon after, he pulled the trigger by bringing up his half-century off 36 balls. In the process, the 27-year-old also went past opening partner Mayers to become the highest run-getter of the CPL T20 20222 final campaign.