The Jamaica Tallawahs bounced back from a huge loss in their last match to inflict a nine-wicket win over the St. Lucia Zouks in their Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Twenty/20 cricket match at Kingston's Sabina Park on Tuesday night.
The Zouks, batting first, in front of a sizeable Sabina Park crowd, made 158/4, thanks largely to an unbeaten knock of 83 not out by Kevin Pietersen. The final score represented a significant recovery for the visiting team, after slipping to 27/3 in the sixth over.
In the end, however, 159 proved to be too modest a target for the Chris Gayle led Jamaica Tallawahs. Gayle, as usual, opened the batting, alongside Chadwick Walton, but it was Walton who set the pace early in the chase, outscoring his more experienced and celebrated partner.
He reached 50 off 46 balls in the 11th over and looked set for a century, when on 76, he mistimed a pull shot off the bowling of fastbowler Fidel Edwards and was caught.
Thereafter, Gayle, who had been biding his time, reverted to his usual destructive self, finishing the innings with a flurry of sixes and fours, to end with 64 not out.
This victory - their third from five matches - puts the Jamaica Tallawahs into joint third position on the CPL points table, alongside the St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots, with six points, but from one match fewer than the Patriots have played.
This was an historic occasion for Sabina Park, which was hosting its first official cricket match under lights.
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