Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi will join the Jamaica Tallawahs at the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Nabi has played 237 times for Afghanistan in international matches and brings a huge amount of experience from T20 cricket across the globe. 

This will be Nabi’s third time playing for a Hero CPL franchise having previously represented the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and the Saint Lucia Kings.  In 12 matches at the tournament, the player has taken 9 wickets and managed to average 24.50.

Nabi will be available for selection for the Tallawahs from the start of the Guyana leg of the tournament.

The Tallawahs were left a man short following the departure of Nepalese bowler Sandeep Lamichhane.  Sandeep left the Caribbean last week to return to his homeland to answer charges after an arrest warrant was issued in his name.

Trinbago Knight Rider captain Kieron Pollard has admitted it was a relief to finally get over the line in a 26-run over the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Wednesday.

After making what looked to be around a part score of 150, the home franchised seemed well on their way to a comfortable win after pushing the Warriors to the verge of defeat at 89 for 7.

A stubborn last-ball partnership between Tabraiz Shamsi and Junior Sinclair, which was worth 24 from 18 deliveries, however, briefly gave the team a few nervous moments before Andre Russell ended the innings.

The Knight Riders' mood would not have been helped by a poor start to CPL managing just one win in their prior 5 matches.  Pollard is, however, hopeful that the team’s latest win will provide a bit of momentum.

“The guys wanted it badly and it was a total team effort.  Things haven’t gone the way that we would have liked but one thing I can say is the guys come in day in, day out, and out in the practice and believe in the process and finally we got the win at home,” Pollard said following the match.

“Hopefully we can go back and look at where we can still do better for the next few matches.”

West Indies T20 star Andre Russell insists he is content to focus on the Caribbean Premier League (CPL), at the moment, leaving questions regarding his selection for the upcoming World Cup up to the selectors.

The 34-year-old has found himself at the centre of controversy in recent months, with the majority of the debate surrounding his lack of availability for the West Indies team.  In the last year, despite his appearances at various T20 leagues around the globe, the player has not appeared for the West Indies since the T20 World Cup last year.

It is a situation that has at times left Windies coach Phil Simmons, and some fans, admittedly exasperated.  With the player having not been part of the Windies T20 squad for the last year, many have speculated on the merits of his inclusion for the upcoming tournament.

The all-rounder, who is currently plying his trade for the Trinbago Knight Riders, insists the CPL tournament is his only focus at the moment.

"I am focusing on CPL at the moment. This is where it is for me at the moment. I am taking it one day at a time, one game at a time,” Russell told members of the media.

“Whatever is to happen will happen. I have no control over what’s going on at the (CWI) or what is going on in (the) selectors' minds…whatever happens in the next week or two only God knows, so I am not even going to stress on that,” he added.

“No one has reached out to me, no one has said anything…once I do the performance on the field then I leave everything else in their hands.”

Jamaica Tallawahs captain Rovman Powell hailed a complete performance from the team in a 33-run win over the Trinbago Knight Riders on Saturday.

The win was the first for the Jamaica franchise against their Trinidad and Tobago opponents in 7 games, dating back to the 2017 season.  For his part, Powell played a crucial role in snapping that streak, with a patient 67 from 49 deliveries and a crucial fourth-wicket partnership with Raymond Reifer, worth 90 to the Tallawahs in a total of 153 for 7.

With the ball, however, the Tallawahs also made runs exceptionally hard to come for the Knightriders led by Mohammad Amir’s 2 for 15 at 3.75 at an economy rate of 3.75.  Powell was delighted by the team’s all-around effort, which restricted the Knight Riders to 119 for 8.

“In all three aspects of the game, the guys played well.  We haven’t beaten Trinidad in a long time so we wanted to do that,” Powell said following the match.

“We came out of the Power Play a little bit shaky but we got stuck in and I think the guys bowled really well,” he added.  

The Jamaica Tallawahs secured their third victory of the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season with a win over Trinbago Knight Riders by 34 runs.

The Trinbago Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field, Ravi Rampaul making early inroads by removing both openers, Brandon King and Kennar Lewis. However, Tallawahs captain Rovman Powell would lead by example, hitting ten boundaries in his innings of 67 to take his side to 153/7 after 20 overs. 

Trinbago Knight Riders in turn lost the wickets of Sunil Narine and Tion Webster early on, and largely due to superb bowling spells from Mohammad Amir and Imad Wasim, were unable to find any fluency as they consistently lost wickets, ending up on 119/8 and losing by 34 runs.

Jamaica Tallawahs lost both of their openers in the PowerPlay, and were struggling to score runs in the first ten overs, before Powell combined with Raymon Reifer in a 90-run partnership stand to aid their side. Sunil Narine bowled exceptionally well and was rewarded with the wickets of both Powell and Fabian Allen to restrict scoring in the final overs, with the Tallawahs setting a target of 154 to win.

Trinbago Knight Riders once again utilised Narine at the top of the order but he was bowled in the first over by Amir. After Webster was run-out, Colin Munro and Tim Seifert attempted to rebuild but eventually, both lost their wickets. Amir struck again to remove Nicholas Pooran as the Knight Riders were unable to build any partnerships, with Kieron Pollard and Andre Russell also falling. In the end, they scored 119/8, falling 34 runs short of their target. 

The win means Jamaica Tallawahs have now won three of their first four games, while Trinbago have lost two successive matches. 

Jamaica Tallawahs spinner Sandeep Lamichhane will play no further part in this season’s competition after being suspended by the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) in lieu of an arrest warrant being issued in his hope country of Nepal.

The arrest warrant, which was issued in Kathmandu, lists the charges as coercion of another person and was announced publicly on Thursday.  The decision to suspend the player was made by the CAN after a meeting and a statement from the body indicated that the cricketer would remain suspended until the matter was investigated.

 Lamichane, who previously played for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots and Barbados Tridents was yet to take the field this season.  In 2020, however, the player was the leading wicket-taker for the Jamaica Tallawahs franchise.

In response, the 22-year-old tweeted to address the issue and announced that he would be leaving the Jamaica franchise and prepare to defend himself against what he called baseless allegations.

“I am innocent and keep complete belief in the respectable laws of Nepal.  I have decided to take a leave from the CPL and go back to my country within a few days.  I am ready to face all these baseless allegations.  May justice be served to the innocent and right investigations to be done,” the player posted on Instagram.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots captain Dwayne Bravo insists the team has plenty of work to do, despite a narrow 4-wicket win over the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Thursday.

The win was the first of the campaign for the Patriots, but it did not come easily.  In fact, chasing 162 for victory, the team seemed set for a third straight loss after needing 22 from the final over.  Some big hitting from Dwaine Pretorius, however, put away some wayward bowling by Romario Shepherd.

The team’s campaign began with losses to the Jamaica Tallawahs and Barbados Royals and despite getting on the board Bravo, who has himself battled injuries early on, believes the team has plenty of adjustments to make.

“Even with this win we still have a lot to improve and when we get into the dressing room we will highlight those moments,” Bravo said following the match.

“To restrict them to 160 odd we would have been happy at the halfway stage because they are a very good batting line-up.  We know they have quality spinners but with our line-up, we don’t believe spin is a threat to our line-up.  At key moments we kept giving our opposition some momentum to come back into the game.  These are the things we have to talk about, even though we won, we made a lot of mistakes.”

Guyana Amazon Warriors captain Shimron Hetmyer insists he would not have done too much differently despite a tough loss to St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League on Thursday.

A brutal final over assault from Dwaine Pretorius handed the Patriots a thrilling 4-wicket win, despite an innings leading 46 off 21 from skipper Shimon Hetmyer that put the Warriors in a strong position.

In fact, the Guyana franchise seemed well set for a win after needing 22 runs heading into the final over.  After scoring three off the first two balls, however, Pretorius tore into Romario Shepherd the rest of the way clubbing two 6s and 7, in effect, off the last ball after Shepherd was also called for a no-ball.

Many believe Hetmyer should have gone for Odean Smith to bowl the final over after the batsman put up an economic 2 for 10 runs off two overs.  Hetmyer insists that it was important to back players.

“I think as players and individuals we back ourselves to get it nine times out 10.  I guess sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t it’s just for us to do better in the next game.

“He had a good day today but, in the end, I went for Shepherd and as it was things just didn’t go our way,” he added.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots achieved their first victory of the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season with a narrow win over Guyana Amazon Warriors by four wickets on Thursday.

The Guyana Amazon Warriors won the toss and chose to bat, a cautious start saw them score 66 runs in the first 10 overs, but captain Shimron Hetmyer produced tantalising innings, scoring 46 off just 21 balls, to take his side to 162-6 at the end of the innings.

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in turn lost frequent wickets throughout their chase, with the Warriors stifling them at regular intervals. However, a remarkable display of power-hitting from Dwaine Pretorius saw the side score 22 runs in the final over and earn a first win in this year’s CPL season with two balls remaining. 

Guyana Amazon Warriors were frustrated early on by some excellent bowling by Sheldon Cottrell and Duan Jansen, who claimed the early wicket of Paul Stirling. Chandrapual Hemraj played a patient innings to build a platform, scoring 43 runs, before Hetmyer displayed some attacking intent, scoring at a strike rate of 219, to take his side to 162-6.  

St Kitts and Nevis Patriots followed a similar pattern, taking a patient approach to the start of their chase after losing the valuable wicket of Evin Lewis in the second over. Andre Fletcher went on to score 41 runs for the Patriots before his dismissal but the wickets of both Dwayne Bravo and Darren Bravo in the 16th over had seemingly ended the Patriots' chances of a win, before Jansen and Pretorius combined in the final overs with a 55-run partnership to guide the side to a remarkable win. 

 This was the Patriots first win of the season, while Guyana Amazon Warriors remain winless after three games. 

The Barbados Royals made it two wins from two with a comfortable DLS victory against Saint Lucia Kings in game six of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Sunday.

The Kings won the toss and opted to field first hoping to take advantage of the effects of the inclement weather. However, that decision backfired somewhat as Kyle Mayers and Rahkeem Cornwall once again got off to a flyer in the PowerPlay.

The Kings managed to slow the innings down in the middle and back end with wickets at regular intervals but that did not stop the Royals from posting a very challenging 162-7.

In reply, the Kings chase was almost over before it began with Mayers removing the top order with a two-over spell of four wickets for four runs.

Rain threatened to end the match with a no result but DLS reset the total to 103 to win from 9 overs. Faf Du Plessis and Alzarri Joseph took the game down to the last over but ultimately fell short with the asking rate proving too much.

The tone for the Royals' victory was set with the power of their opening partnership. They raced to 49 runs before Cornwall was dismissed for 32 off 17 balls.

When Mayers departed for 36 with the scorecard reading 76-2 the Royals looked set for a huge total, however, between the 13th and 17th over no boundaries were scored and regular wickets fell to seemingly hand the Kings the advantage.

However late order hitting from David Miller and Joshua Bishop ensured a competitive total was set all the same.

Kyle Mayers was yet to bowl in this year's Hero (CPL) but when he was handed the ball at the beginning of the Kings innings, he produced a devastating two-over spell that ended the game as a contest.

His clever in-dippers cleaned up Johnson Charles and Roston Chase’s middle stump before also dismissing Mark Deyal and Roshon Primus to leave the Kings tottering at 10/4.

The rain came to offer some respite but when the players returned the Kings needed a highly improbable 93 runs from 30 balls.

Some enterprising hitting from Alzarri Joseph and Faf Du Plessis nearly pulled off an unlikely heist, but the equation proved too steep to overcome.

(Barbados Royals 162/7 (Mayers 36, Cornwall 32; Deyal 2/15, Joseph 2/31) beat Saint Lucia Kings 91/4 (Du Plessis 47*, Joseph 29*; Mayers 4/4) by 11 runs (DLS))

Captain Rovman Powell played a gem of an innings to help his Jamaica Tallawahs secure their second win in the 2022 Caribbean Premier League with a four-wicket triumph over the Guyana Amazon Warriors at Warner Park in St. Kitts on Saturday.

The Tallawahs won the toss and decided to bowl first, restricting the Amazon Warriors to 142-6 from their 20 overs.

On a difficult pitch for batting, the Warriors endured a slow start to their innings, only mustering 71-3 by time the 15^th over was ready to be bowled.

They overcame that slow start thanks to crucial middle-order knocks from Shai Hope (25), captain Shimron Hetmyer (39), Romario Shepherd (36) and Heinrich Klaasen (22). Pakistani pacer Mohammad Amir took 3-22 from his four overs while South African Migael Pretorious took 2-35 from his four for the Tallawahs.

Captain Rovman Powell then played a masterful knock to help the Tallawahs achieve their target and get their second win of the season.

At one point, Powell had faced 12 balls for just three runs but ended up scoring 44 not out off 38 including just one four and four sixes, three of which came within the last two overs.

Brandon King also contributed 32 as the Tallawahs finished 143-6 off 19.2 overs.

Defending Caribbean Premier League champions St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots have now lost their first two games of the 2022 edition after suffering a 7-wicket defeat at the hands of the Barbados Royals at Warner Park on Thursday.

The Royals won the toss and elected to field first in the rain-shortened 17 overs-per-side fixture and restricted the Patriots to a respectable 149-8.

Opener Andre Fletcher was the star of the show for the hosts with a well-compiled 81 off 55 balls including 11 fours and a six. Jason Holder (2-21 from three overs) and Ramon Simmonds (2-28 from four overs) led with the ball for the Royals. Corbin Bosch was spectacular in the field with five catches, a CPL record.

The Royals then capitalized on a spectacular start from openers Rakheem Cornwall and Kyle Mayers to complete a relatively simple chase, reaching 150-3 off just 15.1 overs.

Cornwall compiled a brutal 25-ball 39 including three fours and three sixes while Mayers continued his scintillating form over the last few months with 73 from 46 balls including six fours and four sixes. Captain Dwayne Bravo took 2-33 from his four overs.

CPL action continues on Saturday with the Guyana Amazon Warriors playing the Jamaica Tallawahs before the Patriots tackle the Trinbago Knight Riders.

Akeal Hosein and Tion Webster both played big roles to help the Trinbago Knight Riders secure a three-wicket win over the St. Lucia Kings to kick off their 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League campaign at Warner Park on Thursday.

The Kings batted first after the Knight Riders won the toss and chose to field first.

Batsmen found it difficult to cope with some good bowling from the Knight Riders and St. Lucia found themselves 76-3 in the 13^th over at the fall of captain Roston Chase’s wicket for 19.

Quickly, 76-3 became 77-5 in the same over after Scott Kuggelijn (0) and Mark Deyal (35) were dismissed things looked very bleak.

Thankfully for the Kings, all-rounder Roshon Primus managed to score a crucial 25-ball 38 to help bring the score to a respectable 143-9 off their 20 overs.

The bulk of the damage with the ball was done by Akeal Hosein who took an excellent 4-13 from his four overs. Sunil Narine was also excellent with 1-21 from his four overs.

With the bat, the Knight Riders made it look easy in the end, reaching 148-7 off 19.2 overs for the win.

Tion Webster then set the foundation with a well-played 58 off 45 balls including six fours and three sixes. Tim Seifert also played a good hand with 34 against an excellent fighting spell of 4-17 off four overs from Alzarri Joseph.

A new look Jamaica Tallawahs got their 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) campaign off to a winning start with a 47-run victory over the defending champions, St Kitts & Nevis Patriots.

Shai Hope has signed for the Guyana Amazon Warriors as the draft for the 2022 season of the Caribbean Premier League was completed on Thursday.