By FRANCIS JOSEPH
It is do or die for the Trinbago Knight Riders in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) tonight!
A loss against the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons would see the defending champions leaving after an embarrassing tournament.
A victory would send them to six points with two matches to play. But that would all defend on other results. There is no room for error any more.
Victory against the Falcons tonight at the Queen’s Park Oval will depend heavily on captain Nicholas Pooran, with his batting. His captaincy leaves a lot to desire based on his rotation of his bowlers during the team’s three losses in Trinidad.
It is left to be seen if the local fans will come out tonight. They have been very supportive of the team so far in Trinidad, but with hopes fading away, support may also fade.
Monday’s nine-run defeat to the Guyana Amazon Warriors on the Duckworth/Lewis/Stern method means that the Knight Riders could get only to a maximum ten points, providing they win all their remaining matches. But even those points may not be enough if other results do not go their way.
TKR remain fifth on the team standings.
After the loss on Monday night, Pooran said, “We’re very optimistic, to be honest. T20 cricket is funny. We have three games left. If we can turn up for all three games and get ourselves to 10 points, you never know.
“We’ve tried a lot of different bowlers. Obviously, Lahiru (kamara) flew in yesterday from Sri Lanka and played today, which is a great effort. But we’ve struggled big-time when it comes to the fast-bowling department, and we’ve paid some expensive prices there.”
In that Monday clash, the local franchise seamers: Kamara (one for 55), Dominic Drakes (zero for 40) and Justin Greaves (zero for 18): playing his first match of the tournament following injury, conceded a combined 113 runs as the Amazon Warriors, powered by Shimron Hetmyer’s blistering 43-ball 111 not out, piled up 185 for five in just 16 overs after rain caused an overs reduction.
And despite Pooran’s own 43 off 16 and 55 off 24 by Alex Hales, the Knight Riders came up short, ending on 172 for seven to lose by nine runs.
Pooran was not able to call upon Kieron Pollard to add to the batting and bowling departments. Pollard missed the match after picking up an injury against the Jamaica Kingsmen. His availability for this match against a Falcons side that beat them by five wickets in their first meeting in Antigua, is uncertain, although Pooran still held out hope for Pollard’s return.
