The Knights clinched their second win of the season, they dominated the Royals in an absolute one-sided encounter. The Kensington Oval was treated to a sensational display from TKR both with bat and ball. The Knights were too good for the Royals in all three departments and resulted in a 133-run victory for TKR.
The Knights were put into bat by the opposition on a pitch which had help for the fast bowlers. The TKR openers took their time initially but soon Deyal took on the bowlers to score some quick runs to make the most of the powerplay. Unfortunately, the Knights lost both Deyal and Pooran in quick succession. Martin Guptill stitched together a partnership with the skipper Kieron Pollard. Guptill soon got his rhythm going and then it was nothing but an absolute display of ball-striking. He notched up a 58 ball 100 which included a whopping 9 sixes, and became the first centurion of CPL 2023. TKR set a target of 194 for the Royals, courtesy of Guptill’s sensational ton and Pollard’s well-compiled innings.
In the defense of the target, the TKR skipper Kieron Pollard made a tactically brilliant move and handed the new ball to Andre Russell on a pitch which had a lot to offer for pace. Russell ripped through the Royals top-order as he got a wicket on the first ball of the innings and shifted the momentum completely towards TKR. The Royals weren’t able to recover from the collapse. The spin-duo of Akeal and Waqar ran through the Royals middle order and picked 5 wickets between them. Knights will look to continue the winning form and churn out such performances consistently.
