JAMAICA TALLAWAHS all-rounder Fabian Allen dedicated his team’s 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 title-winning performance to his father, who passed away earlier this year.
Allen's return of three wickets for 24 runs against Barbados Royals in Friday’s final, at the Providence Stadium in Guyana, saw him dismantle their opponents’ top-order and play a key role in destroying, what could have been, game-changing partnerships.
The Jamaican dismissed the first three Royals’ batsmen – Rahkeem Cornwall (36), skipper Kyle Mayers (29) and Azam Khan (51), as the Barbados franchise got to 161/7 after 20 overs.
In response, the Tallawahs were indebted to tournament's Most Valuable Player Brandon King (83 not out) and Shamarh Brooks (47) as they reached 162/2 in 16.1 overs.
This was the Jamaica franchise’s third CPL title since the competition bowled off ten years ago.
Prior to the tournament, which began in late August, Allen made himself available for West Indies selection, after he was previously unavailable for selection for six months owing to his father’s passing.
“It’s a great feeling," said Allen. "I dedicate this one to my father who passed away a few months ago. It’s a good victory and I want to thank the fans and everyone who supported us."
Although he was not selected in the WI's 15-man squad for this month's ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, Allen pointed out, “After six/seven months without cricket it’s tough to come back and blast into it. It’s a good finish for me and I’m grateful about that.
"I feel good personally it’s just that simple mistakes let me down but coming next year, I’ll be working on that,” he added.
When asked what’s next for Allen in the near future, he replied, “The world.”
The Tallawahs’ win was also Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s first major title as coach of a men's team.
Earlier this year however, ‘Chanders’ was appointed coach of the United States women’s cricket team, which travelled to Trinidad in July, to execute a historic defeat of the hosts at the Cricket West Indies U19 Rising Stars Championship. US won the tourney with Chanderpaul at the wheel.
On his first CPL victory as Tallawahs coach, the former West Indies captain said, “Well this is the first big thing for me as coach, and this is the highest (title as coach) for me. I played cricket before but have never done something like this, winning CPLT20, as coach. This is fantastic and great for me.”
The legendary WI batsman credited his team’s wealth of experience and youth as one of their assets en route to lifting this year’s trophy.
“(Mohammed Amir) was a really good addition to us and he played really well, and bowled really well in these conditions. And these are guys who have a lot of experience playing international cricket.
“And (Chris) Green played here for many years so he has a lot of experience out there. We have a good balanced team with experience and some youths and that is probably what helped us,” he added.
[caption id="attachment_978281" align="alignnone" width="680"] Kyle Maye
