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TRINBAGO Knight Riders (TKR) skipper Kieron Pollard has taken sole responsibility for his team’s Super Over loss against Guyana Amazon Warriors at Warner Park in St Kitts on Wednesday.
The Warriors ended a two-game losing streak by powering to a nail-biting Super Over win over the defending Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) T20 champions.
Sunil Narine bowled the Super Over for TKR and conceded just six runs from five balls as Warriors captain Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer were dismissed in the short spell. Only two wickets are allowed to fall in a Super Over.
However, Guyanese pacer Romario Shepherd was tasked with the responsibility to bowl the Warriors’ Super Over and he put on a man of the match display by restricting the 2020 winners to just four runs from his six deliveries which secured a welcome win for the Guyana franchise.
Pollard and Kiwi Tim Seifert opted to lead the TKR chase but were soon on the back foot as the skipper perished off Shepherd’s first delivery. Colin Munro joined his countryman at the crease but the New Zealand pair could only muster up four runs from the remaining five deliveries.
Defeated captain Pollard took full blame for the team loss.
“I take full responsibility for that (Super Over). Seven runs in a Super Over , we should have gotten over the line after getting that lifeline. We take that one on the chest,” he said.
The Warriors (four points) are now fourth on the CPLT20 standings with two wins from four matches while TKR (four points) are in the third position, owing to a higher net run rate, having only won two of their five matches played.
Batting first, TKR lost opening batsman Lendl Simmons for duck as he edged the ball onto his wicket after the second delivery of the innings from Chandrapaul Hemraj.
Tight bowling from Shepherd and Naveen Ul Haq saw TKR gain just nine runs from the next three overs. Ul Haq was made to pay in the fifth over as Narine smashed him for a six and four before Tion Webster ended the over with another boundary.
Mohammad Hafeez’s introduction to the attack saw him remove both Narine (21) and Webster (19) as TKR concluded the powerplay on 46/3. Hafeez and Imran Tahir slowed TKR’s progress with the bat but when Smith got his first chance with the ball, he was punished for back-to-back fours by Colin Munro. At the halfway mark, TKR stood at 70/3.
Tim Seifert (4) could only score four this time around and Pollard was unable to build any real partnership with Colin Munro (32) as the New Zealander soon perished caught by Brandon King (94/5).
Shepherd’s return to the attack reaped swift dividends as Pollard (13) also edged onto his wicket.
Two sixes and two fours from Isuru Udana helped bolster TKR’s tally but it was Shepherd who would quickly scalp the Indian pacer and Denesh Ramdin in the penultimate over to send the title-holders to 124/8 with seven balls remaining.
Khary Pierre was unable to get off the mark but Ul Haq still managed to blast a six and four off the final few balls to propel TKR to 138/9. Both Hafeez (3/18) and Shepherd (3/24) topped the bowling for the Warriors.
In their turn at the crease, in-form TKR pacer Ravi Rampaul got off to a fiery start as he removed Hemraj (6) and Smith (0) in the final two balls of the second over (7/2). He was, however, unable to secure his hat-trick from his next over.
Hetmyer and Hafeez played patiently but were kept at bay owing to good spells from Akeal Hosein and Narine. On the final ball of Pierre’s first over of the tournament, Hafeez (16) was out caught by Rampaul (40/3).
Only 13 runs came from the next three overs but Hetmyer upped the ante when he launched Pierre for two boundaries. Narine though returned and made an immediate impact by getting Shoaib Malik (14) and Hetmyer (27) out in the same over (68/5).
Skipper Pooran (27 from 15 balls) smashed two sixes and two fours before he was out caught by arguably the best catch of the tournament thus far from Hosein. Pooran’s shot was six-bound but a flying Hosein pulled off a mesmerising one-handed catch to halt the Warriors’ progress (105/7).
King perished one ball prior but Shepherd and Ul Haq teamed up to build a much-needed 26-run partnership from 12 balls to bring them within reach of the target. Needing two runs from the final delivery of the innings, Tahir was run out attempting the second, which forced the Super Over. The Warriors ended on 138/9.
Rampaul (4/29) was the pick of TKR’s bowlers while Narine (2/9) was most economical from his four overs.
Pooran was pleased with his team’s performance although he highlighted a couple of shortcomings from the batting unit.
The Warriors return to action against St Lucia Kings on Thursday from 10am followed by table leaders St Kitts and Nevis Patriots against Barbados Royals from 7pm. TKR’s next match bowls off on Sunday from 2.30pm.
Scores:
TKR 138 for nine off 20 overs (Colin Munro 32, Sunil Narine 21, Isuru Udana 21; Mohammad Hafeez 3-18, Romario Shepherd 3-24)
AMAZON WARRIORS 138 for nine off 20 overs (Shimron Hetmyer 27, Nicholas Pooran 27; Ravi Rampaul 4-29, Sunil Narine 2-9)

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