History repeats again as Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) will again be seen in the CPL final. They defeated Guyana Amazon Warriors (GAW) by 7 wickets to reach another milestone.
GAW scored 166/7 in 20 overs which TKR chased down easily in 18.1 overs and scored 167/3.
A well batting performance shown by the Knight Riders. In the league matches when they last met Guyana got an easy win over Trinbago by 6 wickets with the help of skipper Tahir who led from the front and made a huge contribution in Guyana’s win.
After winning the toss Knight Riders opted to bowl first.
Once again Saim Ayub (49 runs) showed his consistency with the bat and played good innings in the top order. He along with Odean Smith (15 runs) contributed 53 runs for the 1st wicket. Smith was a little slow this time with the bat and took 18 balls to reach there.
Azam Khan (36 runs) in the middle order showed some great hits but he was unable to convert his innings into a big one. In the end Gudakesh Motie (19 runs) helped the team to score 166 runs in 20 overs by losing 7 wickets.
In the absence of Sunil Narine, bowlers did a tremendous job by restricting the team to an achievable target. Waqar Salamkheil and Terrance Hinds claimed 2 wickets each. While Ali Khan and Akeal Hosein grabbed 1 wicket each.
Chadwick Walton (80 runs) whose bat remained silent throughout the tournament made sound at the right time. He took his team to the final victory and remained unbeaten at the end. He hit 6 fours and 4 sixes in his innings. He batted highly well in place of Martin Guptill.
Nicholas Pooran (33 runs) and Kieron Pollard (23 runs) also supported him from the other end. Batters of Knight Riders not only provided valuable knocks but also took their team to the final touch with 11 balls to spare. They ended with 167 runs in 18.1 overs by losing only 3 wickets.
Dwaine Pretorious took 2 wickets while Imran Tahir got 1 wicket.
Chadwick Walton, TKR, Player of the Match
“I would like to thank the coaches and players for having the confidence in me. Happy with the win. Has been an emotional ride for a half century. Kudos to the guys for having confidence in me. Only if we win the final, will we feel better than this.”
Romario Shepherd, in place of Imran Tahir, GAW Captain
“They bowled well using the power play. We were short with the bat. We could have defended 167. But Walton batted well and a few chances went down. The captain decided to leave Smith out of the bowling attack. Wasn’t pre-planned. We will look to put up a better score in the next game.”
Kieron Pollard, TKR Captain
“Proper planning. Credit to the back room staff. The way we planned and executed it was superb. I don’t want to single anybody out. We gave guys chances in the last game we played here. The bowling unit delivered entirely. The message was simple to the batters. We knew they were 20-25 runs short. Walton got an opportunity after Guptill’s absence and scored a crucial knock.
Would be interesting to see who plays in the finals. Will give us enough time to enjoy this win. We will take the next 24 hours to back in the glory of this win. I Would like to thank the crowd. We will continue to put a smile on the faces of the people no matter what.”