AI Simulation, GAW vs TKR | Nicholas Pooran guides Knight Riders to beat Warriors and lift fifth CPL title

Pitch and Weather

A typical Providence wicket, slightly slow with grip for spinners. Runs are hard to come by early, but batting gets easier with dew expected later in the evening.

Warm, humid evening with no rain interruptions. Dew will be a factor in the second innings.

Toss

Guyana Amazon Warriors won the toss and decided to bat first.

Lineups

TKR XI: Colin Munro, Alex Hales, Nicholas Pooran (c/wk), Kieron Pollard, Andre Russell, Darren Bravo, Keacy Carty, Sunil Narine, Akeal Hosein, Saurabh Netravalkar, and Usman Tariq.

GAW XI: Ben McDermott, Quentin Sampson, Shai Hope (wk), Shimton Hetmyer, Moeen Ali, Hassan Khan, Dwaine Pretorius, Romario Shepherd, Shamarh Brooks, Gudakesh Motie, Imran Tahir (c).

Match Report

After opting to bat first, the Warriors lost their first wicket at the score of just 15 runs when Quentin Sampson (10) mistimed a lofted drive and ended up getting caught by Kieron Pollard off Saurabh Netravalkar. However, Ben McDermott stitched a partnership that stabilised the Warriors’ innings after an early loss. The duo added 41 runs for the second wicket before McDermott was beaten by Sunil Narine’s off-spin skid on the fourth ball of the eighth over. He scored 28 runs off 22 balls, hitting three fours and a six. Furthermore, another crucial partnership of 56 runs for the third wicket was stitched by the pair of Shai Hope and Shimron Hetmyer. It ended when Andre Russell dismissed Hope by getting him caught by Alex Hales on the penultimate delivery of the 14th over. Hope contributed with a brilliant knock of 44 (34), with five fours and a six. Later, Shimron Hetmyer’s 32 runs off just 20 balls and Romario Shepherd’s late burst of 18 runs off just seven balls helped the Warriors post 161/8 on the board in the allotted 20 overs. The veteran all-rounder Andre Russell ended up as the most successful bowler for the Trinbago Knight Riders, picking three wickets for 29 runs in his four-over quota. He was accompanied by Sunil Narine (2/27 in four overs) and Akeal Hosein (1/31 in four overs), alongside a few brilliant overs bowled by Netravalkar.

While chasing the target, the Knight Riders also lost their first wicket early in Colin Munro (15), who Hetmyer caught off Shepherd’s delivery on the fifth ball of the fourth over. But then came a match-winning partnership of 67 runs for the second wicket between Alex Hales and the wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran. Both the batters smashed the much-needed half-centuries to make the chase easy for their side. Hales scored 52 runs off 35 balls, hitting six fours and two sixes, followed by Pooran’s unbeaten 61 runs off just 38 balls. These knocks, alongside Andre Russell’s unbeaten 18 (12), took the Knight Riders easily over the line in 18.4 overs, scoring 165/4 to lift the record-extending fifth title in the history of the Caribbean Premier League.

Player of the Match

The Trinbago Knight Riders’ star wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran won the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his brilliant and match-winning unbeaten knock of 61 runs off 38 balls, hitting five fours and three sixes. His knock guided the successful run chase for the Knight Riders to lift their fifth CPL title.