By FRANCIS JOSEPH
The big question remains – can the Trinbago Knight Riders retain their Caribbean Premier League (CPL) title?
Well, it is becoming more difficult as each day passes. Why?
The local franchise was comprehensively beaten on Wednesday night by the St Lucia Kings at the Queen’s Park Oval.
Before a near sell out crowd, the Knight Riders tried to chase down 212, but their only hope was Kieron Pollard, who incidentally, became the highest run scorer in all T20 cricket.
Coming off two loses, it was important for the Knight Riders to win on Wednesday night to move up the table. But the St Lucia Kings, who have been playing wonderful cricket, silenced the cheering local fans.
It took New Zealander Tim Seifert, formerly with the Knight Riders, to knock over the local franchise.
A masterful century from Seifert and three wickets in one over from the Kings captain, Roston Chase, ensured that the Knight Riders were not going to win. In the end, the Kings won by 36 runs.
Seifert stayed for the entire 20 overs to remain not out on 105 off just 61 deliveries to lead the St Lucia Kings to the tournament’s highest score so far, 211 for four.
The mystery of the night was the changes TKR made. The team brought in Dominic Drakes and Abdur Raheem Toppin for Nathan Edward and Terrance Hinds. And oh boy, that was licks. The changes backfired.
Seifert got support from John Campbell (27 off 17 balls), and Charith Asalanka (33 off 21). Needing to score at over 10 runs per over from the start, the Knight Riders needed immediate momentum, and got it from the new opening pair of Colin Munro and Sunil Narine, facing up in the absence of Alex Hales.
The pair put on 56 in the Power Play. But Kings captain Chase then intervened with three wickets in four balls in his second over. He dismissed Narine (25), Matthew Breetzke (0), and TKR skipper Nicholas Pooran (o).
Their last real hope was Kieron Pollard. His 65 off 26 balls (six fours, five sixes) brought hope, but once he departed, the writing was on the wall.
Well, South African-born Matthew Tromp must have thought he was playing test cricket and not T20. He made singles and kept finding the fielders. So, Chase and his men completed an easy win in the end.
With one win and three defeats, TKR must win their next four home matches to reach the last four. Time will tell.
Summarised scores:
St Lucia Kings 211-4, 20 overs (Tim Seifert 105 n.o., Charith Asalanka 33, John Campbell 27, Kamil Pooran 25)
TKR 175-6, 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 65, Colin Munro 48, Sunil Narine 25; Roston Chase 3/24)
