KNIGHTS BATTLE HARD, YET SHORT IN THE RUN-CHASE | TKR VS SLK | CPL 2023

Trinbago Knight Riders took on the Saint Lucia Kings in a much-anticipated clash at Warner Park in St Kitts. TKR won the toss and skipper Kieron Pollard chose to bowl first on a pitch which had a bit of moisture and looked ideal for bowling. SLK stitched a great opening partnership, yet the TKR bowlers kept the run-rate under control. Just when things looked to be going SLK’s way, Andre Russell came in to remove both the openers, to shift the momentum towards TKR. After that, the death bowling skills of the Champion DJ Bravo combined with the accuracy of Ali Khan, helped the Knights to restrict the Kings 167 runs for the loss of 5 wickets.

The Knights came out all guns blazing for the run-chase as Mark Deyal took on the aggressive route to put pressure on the SLK bowlers. Even though TKR kept scoring at a high tempo, they also kept losing wickets. Skipper Pollard came in to shift the momentum towards the TKR side, however lost his wicket in the effort to take on the spinners. TKR gave in an all-out effort to chase the total, yet fell short. The Knights will now look to regroup and come back strong in their next game.

Match Summary:
SLK 167/5 in 20 ov ( Faf du Plessis 57 off 36, Sikandar Raza 32 off 23; Andre Russell 2/28 in 3 overs, Dwayne Bravo 2/31 in 4 overs) beat TKR ( Kieron Pollard 34 off 15, Mark Deyal 33 off 19; Kharry Pierre 4/20 in 3.5 overs, Roston Chase 2/13 in 2 overs) by 54 runs.