RBCPL24: Pooran bats lights out again but Royals send TKR home

Fresh from his stellar 101 against the Guyana Amazon Warriors in Match 30 of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL), Nicholas Pooran damblayed his impressive run-scoring form in the playoffs on Tuesday evening.

But it was all in vain. Man-of-the-Match David Miller struck eight mighty blows, five of them sixes and three of them fours to take Barbados Royals past the 60 runs they needed off five overs.

And just like that, TKR were packing their bags and heading home after Day One of the playoffs.

Miller strode to the middle with the score at 5 for 1. Another failure for talisman Quinton de Kock, who was bowled by a fit-again Sunil Narine’s third ball. He wasted no time, clouting the second ball he faced over the boundary for 6.

He lost his skipper Rovman Powell temporarily in the net over, caught and bowled by Chris Jordan—off a no-ball!

After that, Miller (50, 17, 5×6, 3×4) and Powell (9, 8, 1×6) never put a foot wrong, the latter giving the former the strike whenever possible and Miller capitalising.

With eight needed off the last over, Pollard turned to Terrance Hinds, hoping against Hope that he would be as good as he was against GAW on Sunday.

He was not. Miller dispatched his first two balls for maximums to send Pollard’s men home empty-handed for yet another year.

Pooran, who had already made history on Friday when he overtook Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan 2021 2,036 tally to become T20 cricket’s  highest run-getter in a calendar year, got to his half-century off 38 balls, his 15th in T20s for the year.

But unlike on Sunday, he did not contrive to reach the mark inside the powerplay, not getting there until over #13.

Still, when a power failure knocked out the lights in one of the pylons with just five balls left in the innings, he had progressed to 91 (60 balls, 5×6, 6×4), only nine runs away from a second successive CPL century.

And en route, he had leapfrogged Quinton de Kock as the 2024 tournament’s leading scorer, his 504 aggregate well past his previous best season tally.

Back at the top of the order after recovering from his slight injury, Sunil Narine forced his in-form left-handed compatriot to make another early entrance. Narine was completely flummoxed by a Maheesh Theekshana off-spinner in the first over of the game and lost his leg-stump.

With almost the full 20 overs to bat, Pooran eschewed the aggressive approach that brought him so much success against GAW and opted for early  circumspection. He and the off-colour Jason Roy (25 off 17) took only 24 off the first four overs and then one less off the fifth, bowled by Jason Holder.

But Roy fell in the last over of the powerplay and Pollard (17 off 19, promoting himself to number 4, couldn’t find his rhythm on the night. He was bowled all over the shop by a slower ball from Emerging Player Ramon Simmonds.

With Pollard gone at 101 for 3 in the 13th over, Pooran and Andre Russell finally found their footing and powered their way to 168 without further loss before partial darkness descended, forcing a prolonged hour-plus stoppage.

The physical lights came back on to allow Miller to shine.

But for Pollard and his Knights, it remained a very dark night.

Summarised scores

Toss: Trinbago Knight Riders

Trinbago Knight Riders: 168 for 3 (19.1 overs) Nicholas Pooran 91*, Jason Roy 25, Andre Russell 20*; Naveen-ul-Haq 1/25

Barbados Royals: 64 for 1 (4.2 overs) David Miller 50; Sunil Narine 1/22

Man-of-the-Match: David Miller

Result: Barbados Royals win by 9 wkts (DLS)

More from Wired868

RBCPL24:  Aaron Jones steps up as SLK deny defending champions GAW the double

The deed is done. The defending champions have been defeated. By six wickets. And on their third attempt—having repeatedly discussed Read more

RBCPL24: Feeling the fielding—how David Wiese leads Kings’ bowlers’ support staff

A cricket match, a cricket sage once wrote, is played in the minds of the opposing captains. Were he writing Read more

RBCPL24: How ‘hit-and-hope’ Hetmyer overhauled his game to pace GAW

Shimron Odilon Hetmyer warmed the West Indies bench throughout the recent T20 World Cup staged in the West Indies and Read more

Jewel, Evin in Windies white-ball teams; Pooran, Hetmyer, Hosein opt out

The Cricket West Indies (CWI) announced a slew of changes in its player rosters today as the West Indies teams Read more

RBCPL24: GAW coast into Sunday’s final after Royals collapse

When Ramon Simmons bowled Shai Hope for 56, the Guyana Amazon Warriors had not yet overhauled the modest target set Read more

CPL announces Guyana and Barbados as final hosts for 2025 and 2026

The next two finals of the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will be hosted by Guyana and Barbados in Read more

Earl Best

Earl Best taught cricket, French, football and Spanish at QRC for many years and has written consistently for the Tapia and the Trinidad and Tobago Review since the 1970’s.
He is also a former sports editor at the Trinidad Guardian and the Trinidad Express and is now a senior lecturer in Journalism at COSTAATT.