Game 28 of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) saw the bowling of Kieron Pollard blasted into the stands for four sixes in one over, three of the maximums struck from the blade of Sherfane Rutherford and one by Rovman Powell. The emphatic batting sealed a thrilling victory for Barbados Royals over Trinbago Knight Riders in front of a delirious home crowd in Bridgetown.
The Royals are still rooted to the bottom of the CPL table on five points with two wins in this year’s competition but it was a statement
victory for Rovman Powell’s outfit, the Royals skipper accompanying Rutherford at the end to pull off the win by seven wickets with an over to spare.
Powell won the toss and elected to field first with rain around in Bridgetown, Chris Green was the star bowler with 3/9 in an opening spell that saw the back of both Knight Riders openers Colin Munro and Alex Hales.
Knight Riders were struggling at 41-4 in the eighth over before a salvage job with the bat from captain Nicholas Pooran (45 off 44) and Kieron Pollard (36 off 25) saw them post 166/8 off their 20 overs.
Quinton de Kock and Kadeem Alleyne gave the Royals the perfect start in response, de Kock smiting 55 off 25 balls with three sixes and three fours to post a half century whilst Alleyne followed in the South African’s slipstream with 36 off 27.
The opening stand of 87 saw a chunk taken out of the target before Rutherford and Rovman Powell’s pyrotechnics sealed the deal after a slight stutter thanks to miserly bowling from Sunil Narine and Usman Tariq.
Green was named player of the match for his decisive wickets. “We showcased what we can do. It's a little bittersweet but it feels great to reward the fans. I've enjoyed the banter, the support...the whole vibe has been fantastic. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to be back.”
The Knight Riders lick their wounds before heading into a huge final week whilst for the Barbados Royals it was a win that showed what might’ve been in this year’s competition.
