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Planning was key for Tallawahs – Miller

Published:Thursday | August 20, 2020 | 12:21 AMLennox Aldred/Gleaner Writer
Asif Ali of Jamaica Tallawahs hits a 6 during the Hero Caribbean Premier League match between Jamaica Tallawahs  and  St Lucia Zouks at Brian Lara Cricket Academy yesterday in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago. Ali scored 47 for the Tallawahs who won by 5 wicke
Asif Ali of Jamaica Tallawahs hits a 6 during the Hero Caribbean Premier League match between Jamaica Tallawahs and St Lucia Zouks at Brian Lara Cricket Academy yesterday in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago. Ali scored 47 for the Tallawahs who won by 5 wickets.

Jamaica Tallawahs CEO and manager Jeff Miller says the arduous planning implemented before the start of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) has already begun to bear fruit, as the franchise managed to secure a vital win in their opening fixture against the St Lucia Zouks.

Miller and the Tallawahs have little time to celebrate, however, as they square off with hosts Trinbago Knight Riders in the second match of today’s double-header at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy starting at 4:30 p.m. Jamaica time.

In the meantime, Miller could not hold back his elation following his team’s five-wicket win yesterday and described the victory as ‘outstanding’.

“I am so happy and pleased. I am elated because it took some time last year for me to have a feeling like this. To see these guys perform the way they did is testament to the hard work that went on from as early as the draft, and credit must go out to the coaching staff and management team for putting in tremendous work,” said Miller.

Following the off-season turmoil and last season’s poor showing in the tournament, Miller added that there is a renewed energy in the new-look Tallawahs, and that the work done behind the scenes is already beginning to show good signs.

“I have never seen a bunch of guys gel so fast. We came here under adverse conditions of COVID-19 and we have been in quarantine, and we would only see each other on Zoom calls, and even those Zoom calls were different as they were joyful, entertaining and disciplined, and I realised that we have a special group of guys here,” he added.

“This is a team that is focused. The training sessions were very intense with players helping each other, and it showed in the game on Wednesday. It shows once you put in the discipline, the hard work and the strategy and you plan and execute, then you are going to have some great results,” said Miller.

Miller said team owner Krish Persaud rang the team to congratulate them on their good start; however, they are mindful that they still have a long way to go with nine more matches still to come.

“We are here to win the tournament. These guys are only talking about winning the tournament. From a Tallawahs ownership, anything better than last year would be a great success. We are going to soak in this victory but we go again later,” added Miller.

SCOREBOARD

St Lucia ZOUKS

R Cornwall c Powell b Permaul 9

A Fletcher † c Brathwaite b Russell 22

M Deyal c Walton b Permaul 17

R Chase c Thomas b Ur Rahman 52

N Zadran c Powell b Lamichhane 25

M Nabi c & b Ur Rahman 13

D Sammy * run out (Powell / Walton) 4

S Kuggeleijn Not out 5

K Williams Not out 0

Extras (8 wd,2 lb,1 b) 11

Total (7 wickets, 20 overs) 158

Did not bat: O McCoy, Z Khan

Fall of wickets : 1-15 (R Cornwall,1.6), 2-40 (M Deyal,3.6), 3-64 (A Fletcher,7.2), 4-116 (N Zadran,14.2), 5-136 (M Nabi,16.5), 6-148 (R Chase,18.3), 7-157 (D Sammy,19.5)

Jamaica TALLAWAHS

C Walton † c Sammy b McCoy 2

G Phillips c Kuggeleijn b Williams 44

N Kirton c Deyal b Kuggeleijn 1

R Powell * c Zadran b Cornwall 26

A Ali Not out 47

A Russell c Fletcher b Williams 16

C Brathwaite Not out 18

Extras (5 wd,1 nb) 6

Total (5 wickets, 18.5 overs) 160

Did not bat : S Lamichhane, M Ur Rahman, O Thomas, V Permaul

Fall of wickets : 1-5 (C Walton,2.1), 2-13 (N Kirton,4.1), 3-76 (R Powell,9.3), 4-84 (G Phillips,10.5), 5-126 (A Russell,16.1)