CPL 2021: Trinbgao Knight Riders vs St Lucia Kings: Knight Riders saunter to win

Basseterre, September 1: Trinbago Knight Riders moved up to second in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL 2021) table with a 27- run victory over the Saint Lucia Kings at the Warner Park on Tuesday night (August 31).

The Kings won the toss and opted to field first and for the first half of the Trinbago Knight Riders innings they had full control of the game. However, a late salvo from Kieron Pollard and Tim Seifert helped the Knight Riders to post a challenging total.

In reply Andre Fletcher played a fine lone hand for the Kings but the team never got going as a disciplined Trinbago bowling attack kept a firm stranglehold on proceedings throughout.

The Knight Riders opened their innings with the familiar pair of Lendl Simmons and Sunil Narine and they put on a partnership of 23 from 18 balls before Wahab Riaz trapped the former plumb in front.

It took the introduction of Tim Seifert for the Knight Riders innings to gain impetus after Tion Webster, Narine and Colin Munro had all fallen in consecutive overs. Along with Kieron Pollard the pair put on 78 runs from 44 balls to help post a competitive total.

Just like the Knight Riders innings, the Kings struggled to find any momentum in the first half of their reply amidst some exceptional and parsimonious bowling from Sunil Narine and Akeal Hosein that left them needing an unlikely 82 runs from 36 balls.

Despite Andre Fletcher's unbeaten 81 from 55 balls, three wickets by the tournament's top wicket taker Ravi Rampaul ensured no one was able to stick with him to chase down the Knight Riders total. However, Knight Riders will have to face stiff competition from in-form St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, who were occupying the top slot in table, to maintain their No 1 position on the table.