Brief Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 174 for 4 (Simmons 96, DM Bravo 36, Drakes 2-35) beat St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots (Lynn 34, Da Silva 29, Raza 3-16, Tambe 1-12, Hosein 1-15, DJ Bravo 1-17) at 115/ 7 by 59 runs.
Toss: SKNP Won, chose to field
Man of The Match: Lendl Simmons
What began as a sunny day for the Patriots after their toss win, would soon be overshadowed by rain clouds and the Knights! This match saw a major reshuffle in the playing 11, with DJ Bravo leading the squad, as quite a few senior players were given some much-deserved rest.
.@sknpatriots have won the toss & we'll be batting first! Let's spar! 🥊🥊 #TKRvsSKNP
— Trinbago Knight Riders (@TKRiders) September 2, 2020
Today's #Playing11 in partnership with @PlayMPL: @DJBravo47 will be leading & joining him will be Seifert, Jangoo, Simmons, Munro, DM Bravo, Raza, Tambe, Hosein, Phillip & Pierre. pic.twitter.com/xMcAXtMc73
It was Simmons and Jangoo who walked out to the crease this time, in what would eventually turn into Simmons’ show. Jangoo’s wicket brought in Munro who bore the brunt of a fast delivery from Joseph and didn’t make it out of a minor rain delay having been declared retired hurt.
We are BACK UNDERWAY, and Lendl Simmons has just hit a Hero Maximum! The not so good news for TKR s is that Colin Munro hasn't been able to resume after his blow on the hand before the rain, so out comes Darren Bravo.
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 2, 2020
TKR 40/1 off 5.#CPL20 #CricketPlayedLouder #TKRvSKNP
With the ever-dependable DM Bravo in tow, Simmons let loose after the 10th over and quickly sped his way to half century. Their 130-run partnership has become the highest partnership of the CPL 2020 season till date.
96 fro 63 balls! Lendl Simmons was on Fire today and helped get Trinbago Knight Riders reach a match winning score #CPL20 #CricketPlayedLouder #TKRvSKP pic.twitter.com/Y7lnOl8Uf8
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 2, 2020
Simmons ended at a humongous 96 off 63, just 4 shy of what could have been the first TKR 100 this season. Nevertheless, we ended up at a formidable 174/4 that would soon prove unattainable for the Patriots.
We finish on 174/4 after witnessing a high-voltage knock from @54simmo! 💥 We're sure he'll bring this momentum into our next match and reattempt that 1⃣0⃣0⃣. pic.twitter.com/fNsuqHWer5
— Trinbago Knight Riders (@TKRiders) September 2, 2020
Where do we even begin describing the bowling attack that ensued? Let’s start at Pierre’s beautiful delivery that found its way off Lewis’ bat and into the safe hands of Pravin Tambe who’s fantastic day in the field was just kicking off.
48 and flying! Pravin Tambe takes a screamer to take the Googly Magic Moment of the game! What a catch! #CPL20 #CricketPlayedLouder #TKRvSKP pic.twitter.com/xsJC49T2Zi
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 2, 2020
Tambe himself would soon go on to break the building Lynn-Da Silva partnership with a nimble catch on the return from Da Silva. DJ Bravo came knocking in right after and nipped the Lynnsanity in its bud, before it could truly take off.
And then came Raza, who took a sledgehammer to the Patriot’s middle order bagging 3-16 and dooming the Patriots’ chances of any come back whatsoever.
This shower of wickets will only interrupt play for the @sknpatriots! @SRazaB24 joins the party with #Dunk's scalp in his very first over 🔥
— Trinbago Knight Riders (@TKRiders) September 2, 2020
Hosein and Seifert mopped up whatever hope was remaining for the St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots, as they dismissed Joseph with a concerted effort. Soon the day was done with the Patriots falling short by 59 runs!
Our dream run in #TheHomeRun continues. The Knights dominate in today's #TKRvsSKNP encounter & seal our 8th straight win in #CPL20! 🇹🇹✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/OyruXY9pwR
— Trinbago Knight Riders (@TKRiders) September 2, 2020
The 8th consecutive victory for the Knights keep our stellar record this season unblemished, building up to what we hope will be a cracker of a season as we play for #TheHomeRun.
DJ Bravo (on the win): "I'm very happy to see the likes of Tambe come in, Akeal & Khary Pierre - we won the game when we dominated in the powerplay with the ball. Lendl's innings started very slowly but the partnership between him and Darren laid the foundation. Anything above 160 is always good. As a batter, once you've made runs you'll feel confident. The team supports Lendl 100% regardless of his form. As a team, we don't let him feel that pressure. That will only do well for his confidence. He showed his class today. I think everyone is happy for each other's success. We encourage players to play with the right attitude and intensity. Every time we play a cricket game, we have to learn. We had four changes today, but you wouldn't think we had any changes. We haven't won the tournament but I think all TKR fans would be happy with the cricket that we're playing."
Lendl Simmons (Man of The Match): "I've been struggling for the past couple of games. I didn't get the start to the tournament I wanted but the team was winning. At first you need to give yourself a chance and get in. That's what I did, then I blasted off at the back end. I bat well with Bravo and Pollard, we grew up batting together so I'm accustomed to batting with these guys. I've had three 90s in CPL so far. I thought in the last over I'd get a boundary but it didn't happen. It bodes well for the team that I'm finding some form, with Narine to come back into the team. We're unbeaten so far. Today we didn't play our best XI but it just goes to show the men on the bench are as good as our best XI."
