← BackLoading article…↗ Share
Brief scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 175/7 in 20 overs (Maheesh Theekshana 3/35) beat Barbados Royals 145/9 in 20 overs (Alick Athanaze 44) by 30 runs.
Barbados Royals fell to a second defeat in the hands of Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League 2024, losing by 30 runs at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad and Tobago on Friday.
In their previous clash in CPL 2024, the Knight Riders had won by two wickets in a narrowly-contest affair. This was the Royals' fourth loss this season. They end the league phase fourth on the points table and will play the Eliminator.
The coin landed in favour of the Royals and skipper Rovman Powell elected to bowl first. Two changes were made to the side with Ramon Simmonds and Kevin Wickham replacing Obed McCoy and Rivaldo Clarke.
Early wickets for the Royals
Trinbago's openers failed to impress. While Jason Roy fell in the very first over to Maheesh Theekshana, Shaqkere Parris was stumped in the fifth over. Between these two wickets, Nicholas Pooran graced the pitch and scored a quick 27 off 15.
Pollard & Russell join hands in the middle
Trinbago captain Kieron Pollard joined Keacy Carty in the middle and forged a solid 70-run partnership. The Knight Riders, however, couldn't score freely till Andre Russell joined Pollard on the crease. They stepped on the gas and added a quick-fire stand. When they were batting, 190 looked possible.
Theekshana came to the rescue for the Royals and took both their wickets in the 17th over to restrict the runflow. The rest of the squad pitched in with another 33 runs in the remaining three overs to finish with a target of 176.
Impressive bowling by the Royals
The Royals bowlers had a solid outing. They held strong in the powerplay, giving away 37 runs for three wickets. The Pollard-Russell partnership was the only concern for the side. Both Theekshana and Naveen-ul-Haq finished with figures of 3/35, providing the crucial breakthroughs for their team. Jason Holder also added one to his name.
Early setbacks for the Royals
The Royals' innings began similarly to the Knight Riders. Openers Kadeem Alleyne and Quinton de Kock had to walk back to the pavilion within the first three overs. Both fell to Akeal Hosein with the scoreboard reading 13/2.
The Athanaze-Wickham partnership
This didn't dampen the spirits of Kevin Wickham and Alick Athanaze. The young West Indian duo steadily built a 53-run partnership to take the score to 66/2 by the end of 10 overs. However, both fell shortly. Wickham scored 23 off 23 balls, whereas Athanaze top-scored with 44 runs off 33 deliveries, which included four maximums.
Middle order falls short for the Royals
David Miller came into the mix and showcased the same spark as the previous match, but he didn't last long. He scored 30 off 15 balls before falling to Waqar Salamkheil's spin. Holder also failed to score and it all depended on skipper Powell to take the match to the end. The Royals needed 38 runs to win from the last two overs, but it proved too much for him as well as the rest of the line-up.
Royals will play the Eliminator on Tuesday at the Providence Stadium in Guyana. Their opponent will be determined by Sunday when the CPL 2024 league phase ends.
