Philander, Russell guide Jamaica to first win

Vernon Philander and Andre Russell set up a comfortable seven-wicket win for Jamaica Tallawahs, their first of the Caribbean Premier League, against Antigua Hawksbills in Providence on Sunday.

Jamaica never looked in trouble chasing a middling total of 118 even though they lost opener Ahmed Shehzad early. Nkrumah Bonner and Chris Gayle were out in quick succession but Russell and Danza Hyatt helped Jamaica ease past the target with an unbeaten 69-run stand in the 17th over. Russell scored 42 off 23 balls, finishing the match with a towering six over long-on, one of three that he hit in his innings.

"It is a difficult time for us. Having lost the first game, we needed to come back strong,' said Jamaica captain Chris Gayle. "I am very happy that we were able to pull this one off "

Earlier, Kieron Powell got Antigua off to a brisk start, after the side chose to bat, striking David Bernard for a six and a four in the first over. Philander got the initial breakthrough dismissing Johnson Charles for 7. Powell and Ricky Ponting then tried to bring some stability to the innings but Antigua's scoring rate suffered. The pair added 42 runs in 51 balls, before Ponting fell for 19. Antigua captain Marlon Samuels and Devon Thomas were out for single-digit scores while Powell fell for 38 with the score at 88 for 5. Antigua managed just 28 runs off the last five overs against some disciplined bowling and eventually reached 117 for 7.

"The plan was to get as much as possible in the first six overs, and we did it," said Samuels. "We, however, could not get it going in the middle overs and in the end we fell short of making a score over 130."