RBCPL24: Royals stumble; Hosein, Hinds set up last gasp TKR win

With six runs needed off the last two balls, Jason Holder served up a no-ball over number 10 batsman Jayden Seales’ waist.

And number 9, Terrance Hinds, smacked the resultant free-hit delivery over the leg-side fence to ruin the Barbados Royals’ unblemished record and give the Trinbago Knight Riders a narrow two-wicket win.

Knight Riders’ captain Kieron Pollard attributed the victory to “a total team effort” and praised Akeal Hosein and Hinds—who clearly learned something from their failure in an earlier match—as well as Shaqkere Parris and Keacy Carty, who he said “were better tonight in terms of rotating the strike and putting pressure on the bowlers at the right moments”.

He also pointed out that Hosein has been doing “fantastically well [in the powerplay]”.

Hinds’ six silenced the Royals’ Kensington Oval supporters who erupted in all-out celebration on three separate occasions during the second innings in Match 15 of the 2024 Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Friday.

The first time they were certain that they had the game won was at 64 for 3 in the ninth over. Nicholas Pooran, far and away the leading TKR batsman was not at his fluent best but had progressed to 35 off 23 balls with two sixes and four fours.

When he tried to clear the boundary off Keshav Maharaj for a third time, the contact was faulty and the ball skewed off the bat face in the direction of Rovman Powell on the wide long-off boundary.

The Royals skipper lost his balance in pouching the catch but had the presence of mind to lob the ball accurately to Holder, running towards him from long-on.

Surely the cricketing gods were smiling on the Royals.

Celebratory eruption number two came at 125 for 6 in the 17th over. Pollard had scored only three when he drove at a Naveen-ul-Haq delivery on fourth stump.

The ball ricocheted on to his stumps off the inside edge of his bat.

Kensington’s response was deafening. Surely, sure-ly!

And when, with six runs needed off the last three balls, David Miller swallowed Man-of-the-Match Akeal Hosein’s lofted drive down at long-on, it was all over. Holder, the crowd felt, the crowd knew, had won the game for his team.

Earlier, the Royals were invited to bat first in muggy conditions. They began disastrously. They lost both Rahkeem Cornwall and Alick Athanaze in Hosein’s first over with a single run on the board.

Opener Quinton de Kock (39, 21 balls, 2×6, 3×4) was his usual aggressive self, peppering particularly the leg-side boundaries. But Waqar Salamkheil deceived him with a googly and removed his off-stump.

Powell felt the batsmen had done well under the circumstances.

“Credit has to be given to our boys—they fought to the end,” said Powell. “After losing two early wickets, they showed courage to get to that score.”

David Miller (19, 13b, 1×6, 2×4) was one of those who managed not to look at sea against the TKR spin attack of Salamkheil (3/13), Hosein (2/29) and Sunil Narine (2/16). But it was Royals’ skipper Rovman Powell (59, 38b, 5×6, 2×4) who stuck around long enough to power his way to his seventh CPL half-century.

“It was a case of me getting through their two key spinners,” he explained. “I knew the fast bowlers would come back and that is my strength.”

He and Miller combined for 37 for the sixth wicket. But once the left-hander departed, the skipper took matters into his own hands.

He muscled 28 (including four sixes) off the last two overs, bowled by the quicks Hinds and Seales. That onslaught got his team to their 156 for 7 total that gave them, they felt, a chance of maintaining their unbeaten record.

In the event, they came oh so close. But Holder let them down.

Powell made no mention of Holder’s error in the post-match interview but paid tribute particularly to his bowling unit.

“The bowling group did well but we were maybe 10-15 runs short,” said the Royals captain. “The bright spot is our bowling. Trinidad is a world-class team and to contain them to that score with a wet ball and on a wet outfield, credit has to be given to them.”

Despite losing Narine to Maheesh Theekshana’s very first ball of the innings, TKR avoided duplicating the Royals’ disaster.

From 11 for 2—the Sri Lankan had Jason Roy LBW with the first ball of his second over—TKR recovered to be 43/2 at the end of the powerplay. And 100 for 3 with almost a full seven overs left.

Another Theekshana first ball accounted for Parris and brought Pollard to the crease at 106 for 4.

To win the game for his team as he had done against the Kings on Tuesday? Not this time.

To the delight of the crowd, Naveen-ul-Haq did for him.

Not for the first time, Andries Gous (1 off 7 balls) could make no impression.

Holder then opened the door to victory by dismissing Hosein. And slammed it cruelly shut in the ecstatic supporters’ faces by serving up a no-ball to Seales.

Summarised scores

Toss: Trinbago Knight Riders

Barbados Royals: 156 for 7 (20 overs) Rovman Powell 59*, Quinton de Kock 39; Waqar Salamkheil  3/13, Akeal Hosein 2/29, Sunil Narine 2/18

Trinbago Knight Riders: 159 for 8 (19.5 overs) Nicholas Pooran 35, Shaqkere Parris 35, Keacy Carty 32, Akeal Hosein 20; Maheesh Theekshana 3/26, Obed McCoy 2/30

Man-of-the-Match: Akeal Hosein

Result: Trinbago Knight Riders win by 2 wickets

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