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Fletcher, Charles hit fifties again as Zouks stay hot

St Lucia Zouks 194 for 3 (Fletcher 70, Charles 64, Powell 2-45) beat Jamaica Tallawahs 177 for 6 (Gayle 30, Powell 28, Shillingford 2-30) by 17 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Andre Fletcher and Johnson Charles struck half-centuries for the second day in a row, and combined for a 104-run opening partnership, to help St Lucia Zouks beat Jamaica Tallawahs by 17 runs. Zouks' fifth win in their last six games concluded the Lauderhill leg of CPL 2016

Charles kept up his scintillating form with 64 off 35 balls, his third half-century in his last four innings, and took over as the leading run-getter in the tournament with 410 runs at 45.55.

Sunday's rematch began after a 50-minute delay due to lightning in the area of the Central Broward Regional Park and despite the fact that Zouks posted the highest total of CPL 2016 after being sent in on Saturday, Tallawahs captain Chris Gayle opted to give Zouks first strike 24 hours later. The result was another dominant batting display spearheaded by the openers.

Charles brought up his fifty in 25 balls off Timroy Allen in the ninth over, when he hit a six with the wind over midwicket to the northwest side of the ground. Allen nearly had Fletcher caught at long-on off the last ball of the over for 29, but the fielder came in several steps off the rope and with the ball taking off in a stiff breeze, a desperate leap only managed to parry the ball over for six.

Tallawahs had added a third spinner to the line-up in Garey Mathurin and the left-armer eventually made the first breakthrough in the 12th over, forcing Charles to hit into the wind towards midwicket on the southeast side of the ground where Chadwick Walton took a good catch. Michael Hussey fell in similar fashion, hitting to Walton stationed at sweeper cover on off Rovman Powell at the start of the 16th over. Walton took his third catch in the same position when he combined with Powell again to nab Fletcher for 70 off 54 balls.The opener couldn't power through the wind in the 18th and fell two overs short of making it through both Zouks innings in Lauderhill unbeaten.

Kesrick Williams could have had Shane Watson caught off a paddle sweep at short fine leg on 22 if only he hadn't overstepped. Watson went on to add 20, including two sixes in the final over off Powell to set a target of 195, just out of reach for Tallawahs.

Tallawahs got off to a hot start in their chase with Gayle making 30 off 15 balls, in what eventually ended as his side's top score, after being caught on the boundary off Watson. His innings typified the Tallawahs line-up, with everyone in the top seven getting into double-digits but no one able to carry on for a big score. His 43-run stand for the first wicket with Walton was also the best in the innings as wickets fell at regular intervals and stunted their momentum.

Shane Shillingford claimed Walton and later Rovman Powell to finish with 2 for 30, his best figures on the season. Tallawahs had an outside chance of pulling off a win when they needed 43 off 18 balls with Alex Ross and Shakib Al Hasan at the crease, but Watson and Jerome Taylor virtually iced the game by conceding seven singles off the next 11 balls.

After arriving in Lauderhill on July 21 in first place, Tallawahs leave in second and will face table-toppers Guyana Amazon Warriors in the first play-off match in St Kitts on Wednesday.

Tallawahs 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st43CH GayleCAK Walton
2nd8KC SangakkaraCAK Walton
3rd24KC SangakkaraR Powell
4th35AD RussellR Powell
5th32TP AllenR Powell
6th4AI RossTP Allen
7th31Shakib Al HasanAI Ross