Featuring in just his eighth CPL game, Vitel Lawes starred for the Jamaica Kingsmen against the Trinbago Knight Riders.
W, W, 0, 0, 0, W! Vitel Lawes floors Knight Riders in rain-marred clash
The left-arm wrist-spinner made headlines when he received his maiden West Indies call-up even before his professional debut, for the New Zealand ODIs earlier this year, where he picked up eight wickets in five matches. He was signed by Jamaica Kingsmen ahead of the ongoing CPL season and produced his best performance against the Knight Riders on Saturday, August 29, returning figures of 3-29, including a triple-wicket maiden.
After being put in to bat first, the Knight Riders were cruising with fifties from each of their top three batters in Colin Munro, Sunil Narine and Nicholas Pooran. The scoreboard read a healthy 101-1 after 8.5 overs, when Narine was dismissed by Keemo Paul. Lawes was first brought into the attack in the eighth over, where he was taken down for 16 runs, inclduing two sixes, by Narine. He was only re-introduced in the 14th over, when he turned the game upside down.
At 120-1 after 13 overs, the Knight Riders were in complete control, before Munro, batting on 52, edged one to the wicketkeeper on the first delivery of Lawes' second over. The youngster then trapped Kieron Pollard on the very next delivery with a googly. Three dot balls later, Matthew Tromp skied another googly from the left-arm wrist-spinner as Knight Riders went from 120-1 to 120-4 in a matter of six deliveries.
The Knight Riders eventually got to 180-6, thanks to Nicholas Pooran’s unbeaten 60. The Kingsmen started their chase well, getting to 54-1 in their powerplay. But rain stopped proceedings four deliveries into the ninth over, with Kingsmen needing 107 off 68.
No overs were lost after the one-hour dealy but rain returned in the 15th over with Kingmen at 127-3, seven runs more than the DLS par score. The rain didn't relent and Kingsmen eventually completed their fourth win in eight matches to go second, while the Knight Riders remained at fifth with two wins in six.
(Image Courtesy: CPLT20/Instagram)
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