TKR vs BR, AI Simulation | Nicholas Pooran powerful match-winning knock helps Knight Riders to five-wicket win

‌Pitch and Weather 

The surface at the Brian Lara stadium was slow and dry with some even bounce. While the pacer did manage to get some swing early on the spinners also got some grip and turn from the surface in the middle overs.

The weather at Trinidad were overcast and with a bit of breeze at a temperature of 19 degrees Celsius. Though there were some passing clouds, there was threat of rain at the venue.

Toss

Barbados Royals won the toss and elected to bat first.

Lineups

Trinbago Knight Riders: Colin Munro, Alex Hales, Keacy Carty, Nicholas Pooran(c/wk), Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Akeal Hosein, Mohammad Amir, Ali Khan, McKenny Clarke.

Barbados Royals: Brandon King, Quinton de Kock(wk), Kadeem Alleyne, Shaqkere Parris, Sherfane Rutherford, Rovman Powell(c), Eathan Bosch, Daniel Sams, Johann Layne, Jomel Warrican, Ramon Simmonds.

Match Report

 Barbados Royals won the toss and elected to bat first, with openers Brandon King and Quinton de Kock starting the innings cautiously and negating the early seam movement from the pacers. After the slow and steady runs started to flow in the last two overs of the powerplay, and finished on a decent score of 45/0 after six overs. The partnership between the two was growing, and the runs started to flow for the Royals until the partnership of 57 was finally broken in the eighth over, with Sunil Narine getting the crucial wicket of Brandon King on a score of 28 off 20 deliveries. The spinners kept the break on the scoring with De Kock, with only 32 runs coming off the last four overs, taking the score to 77/1 after 10 overs. As the pressure started to mount, Andre Russell added salt to the wounds with the big wicket of De Kock, who was dismissed on 34 off 27 deliveries after top edging a well-directed bouncer to the keeper. The Royals were suddenly in a spot of bother with Narine returned in the next over and got the wicket of Kadeem Alleyne. With these two overs, the Royals were suddenly in a tricky situation, losing two wickets for 25 runs in the next five overs with the score reading 102/3 after 15 overs. While it seemed like Trinbago’s game, Rovman Powell and Sherfane Rutherford formed a crucial partnership at the backend. However, they could not carry on for long, with Rutherford finally getting cleaned up by a brilliant yorker by Mohammad Amir on the 17th. The 18th over was full of drama with Powell smashing Russell for two consecutive sixes, but was dismissed off the very next ball after holding out to mid-wicket as his effective innings of 31 off 19 deliveries finally came to an end. The last two overs belonged to the Knight Riders, with Amir getting two wickets in the penultimate over to complete his three-wicket haul. The final over was bowled by Ali Khan, who might have got smacked for a few by Daniel Sams, but ended up with a wicket off the last ball. Though the visitors might have lost five wickets in the last 30 balls, they were also able to put on 57 runs, which took the score to 159/8 after 20 overs.

Though the Royals' total seemed below par, the conditions were still tough at the start. The duo of Alex Hales and Colin Munro also had a bit of a slowish start, with Munro surprisingly playing the anchor and Alex Hales attacking the bowlers from the other end. The Knight Riders had a solid power play with the score reading 50/0 after six overs. The partnership was moving on nicely until Hales was finally dismissed by Jomel Warrican in the eighth over. As soon as the English opener was gone, the runs started to dry up for the Knight Riders. With Munro being dismissed in the ninth and Keacy Carty struggling at the other end, the game was in the balance with the score reading 75/2 after 10 overs. For a moment, it looked like the Royals were back in the game with Ramon Simmonds ending Carty’s struggle in the very next over over but the TKR skipper Nicholas Pooran changed the tide once again. Pooran continued the attack despite  Kieron Pollard starting to find his feet as well. Though Pollard was eventually dismissed by Sams in the 15th over, with 50 runs coming off the next 30 balls, the hosts were in a solid position at 125/4 after 15 overs. With the equation down to just 35 off the last five overs, it seemed like the Knight Riders will comfortably chase down the score. However, there was still some life left in the game as Eathan Bosch dismissed the Knight Riders skipper after an incredible knock of 54 off 32 deliveries. Unfortunately, the celebrations were short-lived as Andre Russel finished the game with an explosive cameo of 27 off just 13 deliveries as the four-time champions won the game by five wickets and eight balls to spare. 

Player of the match

Nicholas Pooran was awarded the player of the match as he led from the from with a match-winning half-century.

Scorecard