CPL Good Week, Bad Week: Celebrations, playoff qualification and Warriors struggle

The Cricketer looks at the standout performances, the moments to forget and the unusual events from week three of the Caribbean Premier League

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GOOD WEEK

Barbados Royals cruise into the playoffs

Barbados Royals may have lost their unbeaten run this week, losing to Jamaica Tallawahs by six runs (DLS) on September 15, but with seven wins from a possible eight and an eight-point cushion over fifth-placed St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, they are the first team to qualify for the knockout stages.

Not only that, as they sit six points clear of second-placed St Lucia Kings, the Royals have secured top spot and will now get two shots at qualifying for the final. David Miller's side last won the CPL in 2019 and finished outside the playoff places in 2020 and 2021, making this season's run a remarkable turnaround in fortunes.

Kyle Mayers played a big role in his side's victory over TKR to start the week, blasting 79 runs off just 36 balls to help the Royals chase 133 in 16 overs while Mujeeb Ur Rahman has excelled with the ball, taking four wickets – including astonishing figures of 1 or 4 against Guyana Amazon Warriors – and also chipping in with a finisher's knock of 19 (9) against the same opponents.

However, the standout Royals performer in week three was Jason Holder, who picked up six wickets in 10 overs and top-scored for his against Guyana Amazon Warriors, finishing unbeaten on 40 (33).  

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^{Barbados Royals have qualified for the playoffs [CPL/Getty Images]}

Johnson Charles and St Lucia Kings flying

Johnson Charles has been the talk of the 2022 CPL and currently sits top of the run-scoring charts with 342 runs, including a tournament-leading four half-centuries, at a strike rate of 135.17 – second-placed Kyle Mayers has 295 runs. He has also struck the most sixes (19) in the tournament and is just 100 runs shy of surpassing his previous best run haul in the competition (441 runs in 2016).

He started week three on a high, earning a spot in West Indies' squad for the 2022 T20 World Cup (his last T20I appearance came in 2016), and celebrated with back-to-back half-centuries against St Kitts & Nevis Patriots and TKR.

And his good form is rubbing off on St Lucia Kings, with the franchise now on a three-match winning streak and riding high in second place after losing four from five at the beginning of the tournament. Sitting just two points clear of fifth place, their remaining two matches are crucial, but they are the form team in the CPL.

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Home advantage for TKR

Two wins from a possible four wouldn't ordinarily be deemed a good week but for TKR, who entered their home leg of the CPL with just one win in the opening fortnight of the tournament, it represents an upturn in fortunes.

Granted, they bookended their time in Trinidad & Tobago with defeats against the Royals and St Lucia Kings, but they gave their fans something to cheer with consecutive wins over Guyana Amazon Warriors (26 runs) and Jamaica Tallawahs (four wickets).

^{Sunil Narine [CPL/Getty Images]}

Sunil Narine was much-improved in week three, scoring 79 runs from the middle order and taking 5 for 82 from his 16 overs; Colin Munro contributed knocks of 42 and 40 to the two wins; Nicholas Pooran scored a half-century; Ravi Rampaul bagged six wickets – including figures of 4 for 19 against Jamaica Tallawahs; and talismanic spinner Akeal Hosein is back and taking wickets.

TKR are currently fourth in the table, one point behind second-placed St Lucia Kings, and could be finding some form at the right time. And with their remaining matches coming against Guyana Amazon Warriors and St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, they should feel confident of adding two further wins to their record.

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Celebration of the week

Whether it's Imran Tahir's running celebration, Tabraiz Shamsi's shoe telephone, or the celebappeal (made popular by Stuart Broad but best performed by Keith Barker), bowlers do not shy away from extravagant celebrations.

And Junior Sinclair, in only his second T20 appearance, had his own special reaction to dismissing Barbados Royals opener Mayers on Sunday.

^{Josh Sinclair celebrates the wicket of Kyle Mayers [CPL/Getty Images]}

BAD WEEK

Guyana Amazon Warriors continue to struggle

Sinclair's celebration aside, there has been very little to cheer about for Guyana Amazon Warriors this week, and indeed throughout the whole tournament.

The five-time runners-up are in serious danger of missing out on a top-four finish for the first time in the their history, languishing at the foot of the table with just one win from six matches. Granted, they have two games in hand over the rest of the competition and home advantage for these matches, but their performances to date do not inspire confidence.

In week three, they lost to TKR (26 runs) and Barbados Royals (29 runs), posting just 81 for 9 (16 overs) in their rain-shortened clash against the latter.

Their player statistics make for grim reading, with Shimron Hetmyer (20) and Chandrapaul Hemraj (28) the only players to pass 20 with the bat in their past two matches and 11 dismissals for single-figure scores. Ahead of week four, they've lost leading wicket-taker Tabraiz Shamsi.  

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Run struggles for Tion Webster

Following TKR's season opener against St Lucia Kings, Tion Webster must have thought 2022 was going to be his year. The opener scored 58 runs from 45 balls, smashing nine boundaries, to anchor his side to a three-wicket win.

Since then, however, the runs have dried up, with the 27-year-old scoring 7, 5, 11, 0 and 0 from his next five matches. Not even moving fellow opener Sunil Narine down the order and replacing him with Nicholas Pooran could change Webster's luck and he found himself surplus to requirements in TKR's most recent outing, with the stability of Tim Seifert and young Leonardo Julien preferred.

^{It's been a frustrating week for Jamaica Tallawahs [CPL/Getty Images]}

Downturn in form for Tallawahs

Newton's third law of motion says every action has an equal and opposite reaction. While Jamaica Tallawahs didn't exactly reverse St Lucia's record, they certainly suffered a downturn in form in week three and appear to be heading in the opposite direction to their rivals.

The Tallawahs enjoyed a better than average first half of the CPL, winning three matches from a possible five, but are in danger of falling away at the business end of the tournament, winning just one match from three during the Trinidad and Tobago leg.

And their problems appear to be with the bat, with the Tallawahs scoring 139 runs and 116 runs in their two defeats. Captain Rovman Powell was particularly quiet, scoring just 19 runs in three outings with a top score of 12 not out, while fellow middle-order stabiliser Raymon Reifer was twice dismissed for under five. The Tallawahs need both players to return to form quickly.