KIERON Pollard demonstrated that he is still one of the most destructive batsmen in T20 cricket, blasting 52 not out to propel Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) to a four-wicket victory over St Lucia Kings at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia on September 10.
Needing 27 runs in 12 balls in pursuit of 188 for victory, TKR needed Pollard to deliver. He did not disappoint.
Pollard struck four sixes off fast bowler Matthew Forde in the 19th over to swing the match in TKR’s favour.
Akeal Hosein hit a four off the first ball in the final over to wrap up the win as TKR closed on 189/6 in 19.1 overs to win the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League match.
Pollard ended on 52 not out off 19 deliveries with seven sixes.
Earlier, Shaqkere Parris showed his ability as he got TKR off to a blistering start with 57 off 33 balls batting at number three.
Spinner Noor Ahmad picked up 2/35 in four overs and Forde also took two wickets, but leaked 49 runs in the process.
Batting first, Roston Chase continued to show quality for the St Lucia franchise with a top score of 56 not out to steer the Kings to 187/6 in 20 overs.
Chase, who came to the crease with Kings 56/2 in the sixth over, took control of the innings to keep the scoreboard ticking.
After Chase lost his captain Faf du Plessis for 34, he found an able partner in Bhanuka Rajapaksa as the pair put on 80 runs for the fourth wicket.
As the runs were flowing off the bat, TKR spinner Sunil Narine was at his best grabbing two wickets and conceding just 13 runs in four overs.
Rajapaksa was dismissed for 33 with the score on 151, before cameos from Tim Seifert and Forde (11 each) guided Kings to the competitive score.
Left-arm spinner Waqar Salamkheil supported Narine with 2/37 in four overs.
TKR now have two wins and one loss in three matches.
TKR will play Barbados Royals in their next match on September 13 from 7 pm at Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.
Scores:
ST LUCIA KINGS 187/6 (20 overs) (Roston Chase 56 not out, Faf du Plessis 34, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 33; Sunil Narine 2/13, Waqar Salamkheil 2/37) vs TKR 189/6 (19.1 overs) (Shaqkere Parris 57, Kieron Pollard 52 not out; Noor Ahmad 2/35, Matthew Forde 2/49). TKR won by four wickets.
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