CPL 2025
Green’s match-winning spell restricted to TKR to a par total which was chased down by the Royals © CPL via Getty Images.
Chris Green’s stirring spell of bowling (3/7) helped set up Barbados Royals’ seven-wicket win over Trinbago Knight Riders. The already-qualified TKR were restricted to 166 for 8 which was chased down in 19 overs, courtesy a flying start from Quinton de Kock and Kadeem Alleyne, and finished emphatically by captain Rovman Powell. With this loss, TKR end the league stage with 12 points. Their finish in the top-two will rely on the results of Guyana Amazon Warriors’ last two games – they’re currently fourth with 8 points from 8 games and can still match TKR’s tally, bringing NRR into the equation.
Green was phenomenal in the PowerPlay. He bowled a wicket-maiden in the second over of TKR’s innings, taking out Colin Munro in it. In his next, he accounted for Alex Hales and sent down four dots. Rovman Powell trusted the spinner to close out the PowerPlay with his third over, and the Aussie delivered. He tied down Nicholas Pooran in a four-run over that left TKR with a PowerPlay tally of just 34 for 3. Green bowled out right after the PowerPlay, picking a third wicket in his fourth over to finish with astonishing figures of 3 for 7 – a spell that included 18 dots.
Pooran and Kieron Pollard then combined for a crucial 71-run partnership. It started with Pollard going after debutant offspinner Zishan Motara, who at 19 was half the age of the veteran he was bowling to. Pollard tonked him for three sixes in a 20-run over and TKR got to 67 for 4 in 10 overs. Sherfane Rutherford, Daniel Sams, Ramon Simmonds and Eathan Bosch bowled four tight overs as Pollard and Pooran found it hard to find boundaries. The last six overs however, fetched 73 runs for TKR. It began with Pollard breaking the shackles in the 15th over against Sams, taking 12 off it.
Simmonds conceded 12 in the 16th over too but also saw the back of Pollard, for 36 off 25. Bosch did well to keep Pooran and Andre Russell at bay, even as 11 runs came in the 17th over. Sams and Simmonds then gave away just seven each in the next two overs and also dismissed Russell and Sunil Narine respectively to leave TKR hurtling towards a sub-150 total. Rutherford dismissed Pooran on the first ball of the 20th over but Akeal Hosein walked out swinging for the skies, hitting one four and three successive sixes to close out the innings with a 24-run over that took the team to 166 for 8.
Alleyne and de Kock went after Hosein in the opening over, setting the chase up with a flying stand in the PowerPlay. They then went after Saurabh Netravalkar’s two overs to reach 62 for 0 in 6 overs. The partnership progressed past the PowerPlay, only to be broken by Hosein in the ninth over when he dismissed Alleyne. De Kock carried on, getting to a 31-ball fifty as the Royals got to 97 for 1 in 10 overs. Usman Tariq dismissed de Kock in the 13th over and Rassie van der Dussen in the 15th, leaving the Royals to chase 49 off the last five overs. Pollard bowled a tight over to turn the screws, but Powell went after Russell in the 16th, taking 18 off it. Netravalkar returned with Royals needing 27 off 18 and bowled a fantastic over giving away just six runs. Powell however muscled his team to a victory by smashing four sixes off Pollard in the penultimate over.
Brief Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 166/8 in 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 45, Kieron Pollard 36, Akeal Hosein 23*; Chris Green 3-9, Daniel Sams 2-25) lost to Barbados Royals 172/3 in 19 overs (Quinton de Kock 55, Kadeem Alleyne 36; Usman Tariq 2-23) by 7 wickets
© Cricbuzz
