ABF 176/6 in 20 overs [Imad Wasim 46(29); Sunil Narine 2/32 in 4 overs] beat TKR 170/9 in 20 Overs [Keacy Carty 34(22), Kieron Pollard 30(15); Fabien Allen 3/23 in 4 overs] by 6 runs
The Trinbago Knight Riders clashed against the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons for the first time ever in CPL in their 2nd league game of the season. After a dominant win in their previous match, TKR were high on momentum and aimed to put on another terrific team performance. This game marked to be important for both the teams with TKR being on the road playing away games for a while initially and all those points being extremely crucial and ABF struggling to get their first win of the season.
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Skipper Kieron Pollard chose to bowl first on a pitch that has been historically good for chasing. TKR set out on the field with aggressive intent and aimed to get as many early wickets as possible. The ABF openers started well while TKR looked to keep things tight. Things looked to slip away from TKR as the Falcons kept on scoring at a high tempo in the powerplay but it was the wizardry of Sunil Narine which helped TKR breakthrough an important partnership. From that wicket onwards, the Knight Riders established a stranglehold on the game and didn’t allow the Falcons to get away with any boundaries. The spin-twins Narine and Salamkheil spun a web around the ABF batters and also picked up 2 wickets each. TKR bowlers never allowed any of the partnerships to get too big and aimed to restrict the Falcons to a below par total. However, with Imad Wasim’s heroics, ABF reached a fighting total of 176. It was all on the batters now to chase down the total and help TKR clinch victory.
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While chasing the target, TKR did not have the best of starts as they lost Narine quite early. Post that, Andries Gous alongside Shaqkere Parris stitched a good partnership to bring TKR back in the game. Things started to go TKR’s way with both batters playing positive cricket, however, consecutive wickets in a span of 2-3 overs put TKR on the backfoot. Now, it was all upon Keacy Carty and skipper Pollard to get TKR close to the target. Both of them started in aggressive fashion and built an effective 63-run partnership which got TKR closer to the target. However, the unfortunate wicket of Pollard derailed TKR in their chase as they fell 6 short of the target. Despite the loss TKR will be proud of their effort and will be looking to bounce back strongly in their upcoming fixture with more energy and aggressive intent.
