CPL 2017, GAW v TKR, Match 17 Review: Trinbago Knight Riders have a stroll in the park as Guyana fail to show up

The visitors, Trinbago Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bowl first on a pitch that seemed to be on the slower side. Batting first the Guyana Amazon Warriors sent in Chadwick Walton and Martin Guptill to open the batting. They couldn’t give the team a perfect platform, as left-arm seamer Khary Pierre sent back Walton in the second over of the innings.

Sunil Narine, who was operating from the other end picked up the wicket of the Kiwi opener Guptill, who failed to read the variation from the mystery bowler, and walked having scored only four runs. Guyana seemed to be struggling at 16/2 in the fourth over of the innings. Assad Fudadin, who came in to bat at No.3 failed to continue the start that he gave them with a boundary and a sixer in his short cameo. The left-handed batsman failed to get a meaningful connection against the left-arm spin of Nikita Miller, with his score reading 13 off nine balls.

Jason Mohammed to the rescue:

West Indian international player Jason Mohammed gave the home side something to cheer about, with a well-made inning of 66 from 58 balls. The innings was constructive and had all the elements of a good T20 inning, with six boundaries and two sixes at a strike rate of just 113.79. Alongside the right-handed batsman, Gajanand Singh played a steady hand of 27 runs to give the Guyana a decent score to defend at home. The away side was set a target of 131 to win the crucial encounter.

The chase:

Chasing 131 runs, the visiting side decided to open the innings with the southpaw Sunil Narine and Kiwi International Brendon McCullum. Veeraswamy Permaul was the first bowler to get a wicket, as he dismissed Narine, while McCullum got off to a flying start.

Colin Munro, who walked in at No.3 failed to form a formidable partnership with the former Kiwi skipper and could add only 11 runs to his name. Darren Bravo and McCullum ensured that there would not be further hiccups in the chase of 131. Emrit’s wicket of Bravo ensured that the match was not over until the final ball of the innings was bowled.

Dinesh Ramdin and McCullum assured there were no further hiccups on their way to a win, with a partnership of 58 runs. McCullum remained unbeaten on 65 from 45 balls, with a strike rate of 144 powered by four boundaries and four sixes. Ramdin, on the other hand, ended the innings with 20 runs from 19 balls, with a solitary boundary and a six in his innings.

McCullum was named the Man of the Match, for leading his team to a victory. The Knight Riders, with this win, marched on at the top of the table with six victories out of the possible seven games that they have played in the tournament with 12 points in their kitty.

Brief Scores:

Guyana Amazon Warriors: 130/5 in 20 overs (JM Mohammed 66; S Narine 1/11)

Trinbago Knight Riders: 131/3 in 15.5 overs (Brendon McCullum 65*; S Tanvir 1/20)