The Jamaica Tallawahs will head to Qualifier 2 of the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) following a comprehensive defeat of the Saint Lucia Kings in the Eliminator.
The Saint Lucia Kings won the toss and opted to field first, and they took full advantage of that decision with a disciplined bowling display.
The Tallawahs were never made to feel comfortable and but for some late order hitting from Mohammed Nabi they would have struggled to post a defendable total.
However, their 148 proved more than enough as the Tallawahs produced a fantastic display in the field.
Mohammed Nabi followed up his fireworks with the bat with some exceptionally parsimonious bowling to lead the Tallawahs to victory.
Earlier the Kings had restricted the Tallawahs to a paltry 29/2 in the PowerPlay as Matthew Forde and Alzarri Joseph bowled exceptional lengths.
The Kings continued to take wickets at regular intervals and when Kesrick Williams removed Chris Green for two the Tallawahs found themselves 115/8. However, Nabi lead the counter attack following that dismissal and finished on 31 off 15 balls to ensure the Tallawahs had something to bowl at.
In reply the Kings got off to a good start reaching 54/2 at the end of the PowerPlay but when Du Plessis was dismissed for 41 in the eighth over. The Kings found themselves in a hole from which they couldn’t recover.
The Tallawahs bowling unit all played their part as the Kings folded for 115 and exited the competition.
The Tallawahs victory now means that they will battle the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the second qualifier on Wednesday night to determine who will contest the Hero CPL final against the Barbados Royals.