Sangakkara, Russell power Jamaica into final

A controlled chase, followed by a merciless onslaught from Andre Russell, helped Jamaica Tallawahs beat Barbados Tridents by seven wickets in the second semi-final of the Caribbean Premier League. They will now play Guyana Amazon Warriors in the final on Saturday.

Kumar Sangakkara, playing his first game for Jamaica, anchored the 149-run chase with a measured 50 not out, after the side lost captain Chris Gayle in the fourth over with just 16 runs on the board. The Sri Lanka batsman was involved in two crucial partnerships - the first a 71-run, second-wicket stand with Chadwick Walton, followed by a 30-run stand with Danza Hyatt, where Sangakkara kept pace with the scoring rate, even as his partner struggled to an 18-ball 12.

Hyatt brought his labored innings to an end with a heave to long on into the hands of Barbados captain, Kieron Pollard. That brought Andre Russell to the crease. Jamaica needed 32 from 20 and the bowling side had an even chance of winning the game. What followed, however, was pure mayhem from Barbados' point of view.

Sangakkara and Russell needed just 11 balls to race past the target. Russell faced six of those and, in a fearsome batting display, ended up scoring 4, 1, 6, 6, 6, 6 off the six deliveries.

Earlier, Barbados, who were put in to bat, put together a challenging total in spite of an indifferent start. David Bernard had Dwayne Smith trapped leg before at the start of the second over and Vernon Philander dismissed Jason Holder, promoted to No. 3, in the next over.

Raymon Reifer and Shoaib Malik then added 102 runs for the third wicket, the first hundred-run stand in the CPL. Malik used his feet to play Jamaica's spinners, stepping down the track to hit two sixes off Muttiah Muralitharan and Nikita Miller early on. Reifer, who had a slow start, gained confidence gradually and began playing his shots. The pair, however, were out off successive deliveries in the 17th over, bowled by Chris Gayle.

Kieron Pollard and Azhar Mahmood hit some quick runs towards the end to help Barbados post a challenging total of 148 for 6.