“Some ball striking by Odean Smith and Keemo Paul”: Ian Bishop jumps for joy as Odean Smith and Keemo Paul stitch 74-run 8th wicket partnership in CPL 2022

Odean Smith and Keemo Paul partnership: The two lower-order batters hit a combined of two fours and eight sixes between them.

During the 25th match of the ongoing 10th season of Caribbean Premier League between Guyana Amazon Warriors and Jamaica Tallawahs in Guyana, Guyana Amazon Warriors all-rounders Odean Smith (42*) and Keemo Paul (24) registered a game-changing big-hitting spectacle.

Put in to bat first by Jamaica Tallawahs captain Rovman Powell, Warriors were reduced to 98/7 in the 16th over to face another potential embarrassing innings total.

However, a 26-ball 72-run eighth-wicket partnership between Smith and Paul powered the hosts to their highest innings total of the season – 178/8 in 20 overs.

Initiated by Smith, the carnage really come into effect in the second and third-last overs. Having faced six deliveries before the start of the 18th over, Smith took Jamaica pacer Miguel Pretorius to the cleaners to hit as many as five sixes in the 18th over to put on display a brutal display of batting.

Not wanting to lack behind, Paul attacked Mohammad Amir in the next over hitting two fours and as many sixes as Guyana accumulated 24 runs in the penultimate over. A 19-run final over involved both Smith and Junior Sinclair (6*) hitting a six each.

Ian Bishop jumps for joy as Odean Smith and Keemo Paul stitch 74-run 8th wicket partnership

Often rejoiced by the success of cricketers across the globe, happenings at the Providence Stadium today were treated in no different manner by former West Indies fast bowler Ian Bishop. Taking to his social media platform Twitter handle, Bishop appreciated Smith and Paul’s big-hitting capability and hoped to see them replicate the same in international cricket as well.

That was some ball striking by Odean Smith and Keemo Paul tonight for the @GYAmazonWarrior . A little glimpse into what so many of us here in the Caribbean hope to see more of in international cricket. @CPL

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) September 22, 2022

While Smith’s six sixes came at a strike rate of 262.50, Paul hit two fours and sixes each at a strike rate of 200 to put on some show. With Smith being part of a 15-member West Indian squad for ICC T20 World Cup 2022, Caribbean fans would be hoping for him to contribute in a similar manner in Australia next month.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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