Nicholas Pooran is hoping to have a fit Mohammad Amir for the Trinbago Knight Riders’ final league phase match Friday in the Caribbean Premier League.
Without incisive left-arm pacer Amir, who has taken 11 wickets so far in the CPL, TKR have lost their last two matches, including a close three-wicket defeat to the Guyana Amazon Warriors on Saturday.
That loss to the Warriors, and the comprehensive seven-wicket defeat to the St Lucia Kings last Wednesday have left the Knight Riders stuck in second spot behind the Kings on net run rate. But with the Amazon Warriors four points off behind them and the Kings with three games in hand, a coveted top-two spot is not yet guaranteed for TKR.
Their final league match Friday against the Barbados Royals at Kensington Oval will therefore be crucial. And asked Saturday night about the possibility of Amir returning, Pooran said in his post-match interview: “Yeah, we believe he should be fine, so we looking forward to his return…”
Brilliant game
Saturday against the Amazon Warriors, Pooran could have done with Amir’s proven execution in what he described as a “brilliant game of cricket.”
Shai Hope notched his fourth half-century of this year’s CPL to carry the Amazon Warriors to an exciting three-wicket victory.
Hope scored 53 off 46 balls, as the home side chased down the Knight Riders’ total of 167 for five off 20 overs, finishing on 168 for seven with one ball to spare at the Guyana National Stadium at Providence.
Together with Shimron Hetmyer, who belted 49 off 30 balls, Hope reignited the Amazon Warriors’ run chase after left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein dismissed openers Moeen Ali and Keemo Paul cheaply, to leave them 14 for two in the third over.
The pair added 83 runs in nine overs to install the Amazon Warriors as favourites heading into the final phase of the match.
Hetmyer seemed destined for his 50, until he hit Sunil Narine straight into the hands of Keacy Carty stationed at deep backward square-leg, to make the score 97 for three at the start of the 12th over.
Hassan Khan scored just three before he was bowled by Usman Tariq, and shortly after reaching his 14th CPL half-century off 41 balls, Hope was trapped lbw by Narine to leave the match evenly poised at 123 for five in the 16th over.
But Player-of-the-Match Dwaine Pretorius came to his side’s rescue for the second straight match, hitting three massive sixes in his 26 off 14 balls, which helped to get them over the line despite losing the key wickets of Romario Shepherd and Quentin Sampson for nine and seven, respectively.
Narine ended with two for 12 while Hosein took two for 35 for the Knight Riders.
Pooran’s Powerplay disappointment
“I felt like we disappointed ourselves in the Powerplay after getting two wickets,” Pooran said. “We bowled two easy overs in the back end of the Powerplay.”
Pooran also was not satisfied with the way his bowlers finished the match. “I felt like the last three overs of the game, they wanted 38, we let ourselves down there,” he said.
Earlier, after being asked to bat first, Kieron Pollard being the only batter to impose himself against the Amazon Warriors’ bowlers.
Darren Bravo scored a pedestrian 33 off 35 balls, while Keacy Carty needed 34 balls for his 29 runs but they still managed a useful partnership of 56 after the loss of three wickets inside the Powerplay.
Pollard revival
Pollard, however, finished unbeaten on 54 off 18 balls with five sixes and five fours, as he registered his 16th CPL fifty and third of the season, to put his side in a position to defend a competitive total.
“Polly came and finished the innings and gave us some hope there at the end,” Pooran noted. “I think 168 was a really good score on this pitch and going into the half-time we were really happy in defending this.” TKR could not complete the job however. But Pooran said, “the guys fought to the end, which is for me the biggest thing because we gonna be coming back here again (for the playoffs). So we gonna take all the positives from this game, take it to Barbados, correct those boxes.”
Summarised Scores:
KNIGHT RIDERS 167-5, 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 54 n.o., Darren Bravo 33, Keacy Carty 29, Colin Munro 17, Nicholas Pooran 13) vs AMAZON WARRIORS 168-7, 19.5 overs (Shai Hope 53, Shimron Hetmyer 49, Dwaine Pretorius 26 n.o.; Sunil Narine 2/12, Akeal Hosein 2/35). —Amazon Warriors won by three wickets.
Christeen Roberie
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