Shakib bounces back in style

The teams, the venue and the result were identical, but Shakib Al Hasan's performance was the polar opposite and that proved to be the difference as the Jamaica Tallawahs defeated the Barbados Tridents by 12 runs in the Carribean Premier League yesterday.

One day after a lackluster display from the Bangladesh T20I skipper, Shakib and Jamaica avenged their opening 12-run defeat to Barbados with a clinical performance at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill.

Shakib had managed only one run in his last match and would have been eager to prove himself and he did just that with a sublime performance.

Sri Lanka legend and Jamaica captain Kumar Sangakkara won the toss and elected to bat first, but he departed soon after with the score at 14. Lendl Simmons and Andre McCarthy took Jamaica to 65 in 10 overs, but three wickets in a span of four balls saw Jamaica crumble to a position of defeat yet again.

That is when Shakib stepped in and changed the course of the game. The left-hander blitzed his way to a 32-ball 44 and smashed five boundaries and a six and remained undefeated at the end of the allotted overs, having taken Jamaica to 154.

Barbados were helpless in reply, thanks to Jamaica's Asian bowlers. They lost their last wicket off the last ball of the match with the scoreboard reading 142.

Shakib Al Hasan took a wicket and gave away 28 runs, while Imad Wasim took one for 20. However, the pick of the bowlers was Mohammad Sami, who took four wickets and gave away just 12 runs in his four overs to ensure that the result would not go any way other than Jamaica's.

McCarthy, who had been part of two valuable partnerships and scored 62 off 44, was named the man of the match.