Pollard plots TKR's win over holders St. Lucia Kings

Kieron Pollard continued to turn back the clocks as he smashed six sixes and four fours in a 29-ball 65 to help Trinbago Knight Riders down the holders St. Lucia Kings at their home. Before Pollard's middle-order fireworks, Colin Munro and Nicholas Pooran made key contributions that helped the Knight Riders finish with 183/7. St. Lucia Kings began well through Tim Seifert and Johnson Charles but the Knight Riders kept hitting back with wickets. Even with sizable efforts from the middle-order, the Kings eventually fell short by 18 runs.

Colin Munro, who recently struck the first century of CPL 2025, started brightly in the company of Alex Hales. Munro did most of the scoring as they raced towards 50 inside the PowerPlay. David Wiese put a hard stop to that flourish with the wicket of Hales in the fifth over. Kaecy Carty struggled in his 12-ball stay for 9 runs before being put out of his misery by Roston Chase just after the PowerPlay. Munro's hopes of kickstarting an alliance with his captain Pooran were dashed just past the half-way stage when Tabraiz Shamsi sent the opener packing for a 30-ball 43. From 78/3 in the 11th over, Pooran and Pollard forged a game-defining partnership worth 82 runs off just 42 deliveries.

Shamsi dropped a tough chance to get rid of Pollard on the first ball he faced, and the veteran made the Kings pay for that misstep. He began to throw his bat around soon after his arrival, and smashed what was his 200th CPL six in the 15th over off Wiese. In the 17th over - bowled by the Kings captain, Pollard went ballistic - hitting three successive sixes to get to a 22-ball 50 and followed it with a four in a 24-run over. Pooran then fell for an uncharacteristically subdued 34 off 30 balls but Pollard pushed on.

Oshane Thomas returned to dismiss Pollard on the first ball of the penultimate over, where he conceded just one run. Keon Gaston had to bowl the 20th over with a fielder fewer beyond the 30 yard circle due to overrate offence, and went for 13 runs in it as Knight Riders finished with a big total.

Seifert and Charles made their intentions of chasing it down amply clear by taking 15 off Akeal Hosein in the second over and hitting Mohammad Amir for 12 in the third. Sunil Narine conceded just 14 in two overs inside the PowerPlay, but the Kings raced to 60/0 in 6 overs. The Knight Riders did well to bounce back through the middle phase as the scoring slowed and breakthroughs arrived. The two openers departed after laying the foundation, but the batters to follow couldn't quite consolidate.

From 84/1 in 10 overs, the Kings slipped to 115/4 in 15 overs, taking the wind out of the Kings' sails. The fourth wicket, of Tim David, was a contentious call for a caught behind. The Aussie swung and missed against an Amir delivery and the Knight Riders appealed for caught behind and used a review after being turned down on the field. The UltraEdge showed a spike, but on a frame after the ball passed the bat. The third umpire still declared it out, much to the chagrin of David. Narine bowled a fantastic fourth over to crank up the pressure - and the equation, to 65 from 24 deliveries.

Delano Potgieter and Wiese kept the home fans hopeful, though, as 15 came off Russell in the 17th over. Off-spinner Usman Tariq however, capped off a fine spell of bowling by dismissing Wiese and finishing with figures of 2 for 20. The equation was down to 29 from six with Russell to bowl the final over. Ackeem Auguste made that 23 off 5, but Russell denied any more big hits to close out the win.

Brief Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 183/7 in 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 65, Colin Munro 43; Keon Gaston 2-38) beat St. Lucia Kings 165/6 in 20 overs (Johnson Charles 47, Tim Seifert 35; Usman Tariq 2-20) by 18 runs