A third loss in a row put the Trinbago Knight Riders on the brink of elimination. In a close contest, the Knight Riders faltered in their 184-run chase and fell short by eight runs to the Antigua and Barbuda Falcons on Wednesday (September 2). While the Falcons have consolidated their place at the top of the standings, the Knight Riders are clinging to sixth place with only a mathematical chance of progressing.
It was in the 18th over that Kieron Pollard returned to the side and played perhaps his last T20 match in front of his home crowd, walking off to a standing ovation after being caught out after a battling 36-ball 41. Pollard’s effort came at a time of need for the Knight Riders who were reeling at 57 for 4 in the sixth over. Rahkeem Cornwall was responsible for most of the early damage as he removed the dangerous-looking Nicholas Pooran (22 off 10) having already dismissed openers Colin Munro and Sunil Narine in the second over.
Pollard shared a 36-run stand with Justin Greaves to revive the chase before teaming up with Joshua Da Silva to lift the Knight Riders’ hopes. With 42 runs needed from the last four overs, four tidy fours from Shadab Khan put the pressure back on TKR and eventually led to Pollard’s dismissal in the next over. Da Silva fought back and got fifty off the last delivery but was unable to score the 26 needed to win from the final.
Earlier in the match, the Falcons’ opener got the team off to a flying start as Cornwall plundered four consecutive boundaries off Akhil Hossain in the first over. Evin Lewis then backed it up by taking Lahiru Kumara for 15 runs in the next over. Sunil Narine and Usman Tariq pulled things back with a couple of tight overs and kept the Falcons to 43 for 1 in the Powerplay. A few more wickets meant things were level at 70 for 3 after 10 overs.
The match changed with Hasan Nawaz and Moeen Ali dominating. Nawaz was particularly devastating and smashed 76 off just 48 balls before being dismissed in the final over. Moeen Ali also played an important role in their 108-run partnership as the Falcons finished with a massive figure of 183 for 4 with 50 of those runs coming off the last four overs.
Summary scores: Antigua and Barbuda Falcons 183/4 in 20 overs (Hassan Nawaz 76, Moeen Ali 32; Usman Tariq 1-25) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 175/7 in 20 overs (Joshua Da Silva 54*, Kieron Pollard 41; Rakim Cornwall 3-17) by 8 runs.
