Kieron Pollard crushed a 72-of-28 to propel Trinbago Knight Riders to a thrilling two-course victory over Barbados Tridents, while Jamaica Tallawahs edged St. Kitts & Nevis Patriots by 37 runs in the Hero Caribbean Premier League here.
The Knight Riders were established as firm title favorites after posting a sixth straight victory to stay at the top of the table.
Sent to bat, Tridents lost Shai Hope (4) early, but Johnson Charles (47) and Kyle Mayers (42) showed a lot of aggression to help the team score 148 of 7.
In response, the Knight Riders were battling at 62-for-5 but Pollard broke nine sixes and two fours on his 72-of-28 balls to bring the team home.
Previously, Charles scored 44 of the Trident’s 59 for 1 in the first 10 overs. He was out when he ran a full pitch straight to Simmons on point. Mayers then pitched a few fours before Jason Holder was the third to go when Tridents slipped to 95-for-3.
Mayers and Corey Anderson tried to force the pace, but Sikandar Raza hit twice at 17, firing both batters to 107-for-five.
Ashley Nurse (19) and Rashid Khan (12) then played some lustful punches to bring the Tridents to close to the 150 mark.
Chasing the total, Knight Riders lost two fast wickets to Tion Webster (5) and Colin Munro (0) to be reduced to six by two. Rashid Khan then caught Bravo’s leg earlier on a maiden. Tim Siefert (4) then edged out Raymon Reifer with the goalie as the Knight Riders went 48 for four.
When Pollard reached the area, the team needed 87 of 39 balls. He served as a warning by hitting Hayden Walsh against the scoreboard on the first ball and then hammered Rashid for a six over long.
After Lendl Simmons left, the Knight Riders needed 66 on 24 balls.
At 17, Pollard broke four sixes before hitting Reifer for four in succession in the next over to reduce the equation to 31 of the last 12 balls.
With two brutal 6s from Holder, Pollard reached 15 from the finish. He started on a six from Reifer but ran out of the next ball as he sought a desperate second run.
With eight needed on four balls, Khary Pierre and Jayden Seales took them home.
In another game, starter Glenn Phillips hit 20 overs, scoring 79 unbeaten on 61 balls to help Jamaica Tallawahs score 147 of 6 in a competitive game.
Their pitchers, led by Carlos Brathwaite (3/11), then completed the job, firing the Patriots by 110 in 19.4 overs for a comfortable victory.
Earlier, promoted to open, Nkrumah Bonner led Sheldon Cottrell by four and led Ish Sodhi by six before being fired by Imran Khan when he passed Cottrell in the long run.
Jermaine Blackwood and Phillips then led the Tallawahs to 53-for-one in the middle of the stage. With Phillips dropping anchor, the Tallawahs went 79-for-2 at 14 and then 97-for-three after 16.
Phillips finally started with three straight sixes against Cottrell in the 17th in which he produced 21 runs. As grounds fell at the other end, Philips raised the score with a burst of four and six. He hit another six in a final run of 15 when the Tallawah reached 147 of six.
For the Patriots, Kieran Powell opened the innings with Evin Lewis suffering a groin injury. Other starter Chris Lynn was the first to leave as the Patriots closed the first six overs at 39-for-one.
Then, in a span of 10 races, the Patriots lost four wickets and dropped to 52 times five. Spinners Sandeep Lamichhane and Mujeeb ur Rahman did a good job with two and one wickets respectively, as the Patriots never challenged. Lewis came to bat and scored 21 for 16, but it wasn’t enough.
Tallawahs will face Trinbago Knight Riders on Tuesday.
.
