Russell century sets up Warriors vs Tallawahs Final

Sat, Aug 6, '16

The fastest ever Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) century by Andre Russell helped the Jamaica Tallawahs defeat the Trinbago Knight Riders in Warner Park to secure a place in Sunday’s final.

Russell came to the crease with his team in real trouble with four wickets down with just 67 runs on the board. His 42-ball hundred meant that his side recovered to 195-7, a total that was always going to be too much for the Knight Riders to chase even after it was reduced by rain.

The Tallawahs were the eventual winners by 19 runs via the Duckworth Lewis Stern method as TKR struggled to get going in their innings as Russell followed up his batting efforts with two wickets.

The Tallawahs got off to a brisk start thanks to Chris Gayle who cut the third ball that he faced for four runs. The Tallawahs’ captain looked to be the mood for a big score, reaching 36 from 26 balls, but he mistimed a pull shot to a good length ball from Kevon Cooper that was caught on the midwicket boundary by Colin Munro.

Despite this quick runs for Gayle there were wickets before and after he departed that held up the Tallawahs’ progress. Chadwick Walton was lucky to survive inside the first over when he was dropped off Ronsford Beaton but he did not make the most of that life – edging behind to Denesh Ramdin off Cooper.