"Disrespect" fuelled Jamaica Tallawahs' title win

Tallawahs became the first team in the league's history to win the tournament after coming fourth in the table, a remarkable achievement from a team that won just one of their last six league games

In the aftermath of the Jamaica Tallawahs winning the Caribbean Premier League, Rovman Powell credited the "disrespect" his team had received as a motivating factor for their victory.

The captain, Powell, led his team to an unlikely victory against table-topping Barbados Royals. Tallawahs reached the final the hard way, coming fourth in the regular season before beating the St Lucia Kings in the eliminator and Guyana Amazon Warriors in the second qualifier.

Not many gave them a chance and Powell responded in the post-match presentation. "I think we used the disrespect that we endured as a motivation, to be honest," he said.

"The guys were very hungry, and everything just came out right. After we were placed under pressure in the powerplay, the guys got off to a pretty good start. We have a lot of batters that are batting good, so if they make 180 to 200, we will try our best to get it."

^{Tallawahs beat Barbados Royals in the final to win the CPL (CPL/Getty Images)}

Jamaica Tallawahs became the first team in the league's history to win the tournament after coming fourth in the table, a remarkable achievement from a team that won just one of their last six league games.

"I formed a leadership group with Brandon King, Kennar Lewis, Fabian Allen, Shamarh Brooks and they were integral part of my leadership group," added Powell.

"They were integral in pushing our team into a particular direction and the overseas players who played supporting roles were tremendous. A lot of credit needs to be given to them. At some point in the competition, we seemed down and out, but those guys rallied around my captaincy, believed in me as captain, and now we're CPL champions."

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