ASKED what went wrong after his team finished in last place in the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) on Saturday, Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) skipper Kieron Pollard answered, “Everything.”
If the CPL was played on paper, TKR might have been handed their fifth trophy with a star-studded batting line-up filled with power hitters, and a capable bowling attack including two quality spinners. But the 2022 CPL was certainly a tournament to forget for TKR as the four-time champions struggled with woeful batting and poor death bowling.
It was the first time in the ten-year history of the CPL that TKR failed to qualify for the playoffs. TKR managing director Venky Mysore would be doing his own analysis of where TKR went wrong and what changes, if any, would be needed to avoid a repeat.
Big names fail with the bat
When Andre Russell was signed by TKR and it was announced that Nicholas Pooran would be returning home, much was expected as they added to the firepower of captain Kieron Pollard, ex-CPL MVP Colin Munro and Tim Seifert.
Russell, Pollard and Pooran are among the most destructive T20 batsmen in the world and massive totals seemed inevitable. It was not the case as their 2022 stats make for painful reading.
Russell, who showed glimpses of his power in the SKYEXCH 6ixty tournament before the CPL, was poor with the bat, ending the tournament with 119 runs in nine innings at an average of 17. His highest score was 29.
Pollard was just as ordinary as Russell, scoring 132 runs in nine innings at an average of 14.66. He achieved a high score of 34 and ended the tournament with a strike rate of just 98.50 – well below his T20 career strike rate of 150.
Pooran, despite scoring 52 in one inning, only ended with a total of 108 runs in nine innings. If you minus his knock of 52, he only scored 56 runs in eight innings at an average of seven. His other scores were four, eight, 13, 52, 15, zero, zero, 15 and one.
A lot was expected of West Indies T20 and 50-over captain who would have wanted to use the CPL as a warm-up to the T20 World Cup, which bowls off next month in Australia.
[caption id="attachment_977031" align="alignnone" width="1024"] In this September 14 photo, TKR players celebrate the wicket of Paul Stirling of Guyana Amazon Warriors during the 2022 Hero Caribbean Premier League match at the Queen’s Park Oval, St Clair. - Photo via CPL T20[/caption]
The usually dependable Munro averaged just 19.75 at a strike rate of 112.05.
The opening pair was an issue for TKR throughout the tournament. It did not matter who opened the batting, an early wicket was certain for the opposing team.
Sunil Narine, Pooran, Tion Webster, Leonardo Julien, Colin Munro and Tim Seifert all opened the batting at some point as TKR chopped and changed looking for answers.
TKR’s highest opening partnership in the tournament was 32, between Seifert and Munro, which came in their final preliminary match on Saturday .
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