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A substantial partnership of 78 runs from 44 balls from Trinbago Knight Riders’ (TKR) skipper Kieron Pollard (41) and Tim Seifert (37) partnered with another stern bowling performance from pacer Ravi Rampaul (3/34) propelled the reigning Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 champions to a welcomed 27-run win over St Lucia Kings at Warner Park in St Kitts on Tuesday.
It was an Independence Day gift to the nation for the Trinidad and Tobago franchise which bounced back from a loss to the Kings on Sunday to grab a much-needed win in celebration of the island’s 59th anniversary from British reign.
In pursuit of TKR’s 158/7, which was steered by a late surge from Pollard and Seifert, St Lucia Kings were restricted to 131/7 courtesy Rampaul’s impressive spell and stellar displays from Isuru Udana (2/32) and spinners Akeal Hosein (1/12) and Sunil Narine (1/16).
Batting first, TKR had a slow start and completed the powerplay with just 40 runs on the board. Opener Lendl Simmons struck two fours in his knock of 11 but was trapped leg-before by Pakistani fast bowler Wahab Riaz in the third over.
Narine (24) however, played patiently and hit Alzarri Joseph and Roston Chase for two fours each before new batsman Tion Webster (14) returned to the stands, caught by Tim David off Chase (61/2).
Pollard, who came in at number four this time around, took some time to get going as Chase, Joseph and Kesrick Williams tightened their grip on the TKR batsmen. At just 63/2 after 10 overs, TKR needed to score quickly.
Joseph then had Narine play into the hands of du Plessis which made way for Colin Munro (four), who swiftly returned to the stands caught by Riaz off Williams (68/4).
Seifert and Pollard buckled down and the former got off to a fine start by smashing Riaz for consecutive boundaries over point and through deep square leg. Williams however, temporarily slowed the pace as he gave up just four runs from the 14th over.
Pollard, however, cracked Keemo Paul for two fours in the next over while Seifert blasted Chase for a Hero maximum over deep square leg with just four overs to go. The New Zealander then hammered Joseph for another six as TKR entered the final three overs at 111/4.
Fourteen more runs came from Paul’s next over as Pollard found the boundary twice and Seifert once. Riaz seemed blitzed by the TKR fight back as he gave up four wide balls in the penultimate over. Pollard also launched him for six and two fours to steal 21 runs heading into the final over.
Williams waited until the end to strike as he had both Pollard and Seifert out caught and Denesh Ramdin trapped leg-before on the final ball. TKR still managed to add 12 runs in the final spell to carry them to 158/7.
In reply, St Lucia Kings had a good start as openers Rahkeem Cornwall and Andre Fletcher hit Rampaul for a four each in the second over. Udana’s first ball of the third over uprooted Cornwall’s leg stump which introduced captain Faf du Plessis to the crease.
The South African hit Udana for four while Fletcher bettered his captain’s strike in the fifth over, by flicking the Pakistani for six towards deep mid-wicket and then straight driving towards long off for four.
The next six overs saw spinners Narine and Hosein stifle the St Lucia franchise’s batting as they were restricted to just 15 runs from 36 balls, losing de Plessis (14) and Chase (0) along the way.
At a paltry 55/3 after 11 overs, Mark Deyal hit Pollard and Narine for one four each. Rampaul returned to the attack and repeated Sunday’s performance against Deyal by having him dismissed on his first delivery (77/4).
The very next ball, Rampaul removed new batsman David as he edged to wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin without scoring. Rampaul’s first CPL hat-trick was not to be as Samit Patel and Fletcher grabbed three runs off the remaining balls.
TKR’s Jayden Seales was expensive in the 16th over as Fletcher upped the ante by smacking the 19-year-old pacer for six and two fours. Rampaul grabbed his third wicket of the match as he had Patel (4) out caught by Seales (98/6).
[caption id="attachment_910491" align="alignnone" width="683"] Tim Seifert, of Trinbago Knight Riders, plays a shot that goes for four runs during the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League match 9 against Saint Lucia Kings at Warner Park Sporting Complex on Tuesday, in Basseterre, St Kitts, - via CPL T20[/caption]
Paul was next to go without scoring as Udana had him out caught by Pollard (104/7). But with 53 runs needed from the final two overs, Fletcher tried valiantly to bump up their run chase by hammering Rampaul to long off for six and then flicking towards deep square leg for a boundary.
His last-minute theatrics with the bat, however, were in vain as St Lucia Kings closed on 131/4 to hand a well-worked victory to the four-time winners. Fletcher finished on 81 not out from 55 balls. Pollard was adjudged man of the match.
The win places TKR second on the CPLT20 standings on four points. Leading the ranks are hosts St Kitts and Nevis Patriots (six points), who remain unbeaten after three games.
Pollard expressed pleasure with the team’s all-around effort but paid particular attention to the contribution from his spinners.
“The bowling effort by the guys was fantastic; the spinners stifling them in the middle. We know they were going to come hard in the powerplay and it’s just a matter of trying to manage the powerplay.
“Once we get that (run) rate above ten, in the nature of a surface like this, was always going to be difficult in the end. The straight boundaries are very short and we have a lot of strong people around in CPL.
“So using the pitch, you’d have your natural variations as a spinner and then the pitch is giving you some uneven and invariable pounce as well. So it’s just a matter of sticking with it and once we do that, there’s a ball with the name of batsmen on it. So we have to dig in,” he said in the post-match interview.
TKR’s match results for the tourney thus far saw them lose their opening match against Guyana Amazon Warriors (Thursday), win against the Barbados Royals (Friday), lose to St Lucia Kings (Sunday) and reciprocate the result against the latter on Tuesday.
They return to action on Wednesday against Guyana Amazon Warriors from 10am followed by leaders St Kitts and Nevis Patriots up against Jamaica Tallawahs from 7pm.
Scores:
TKR 158 for seven off 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 41, Tim Seifert 37; Kesrick Williams 4-24)
KINGS 131 for seven off 20 overs (Andre Fletcher 81 not out, Ravi Rampaul 3-34, Isuru Udana 2-32)
 
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