CPL 2017, Qualifier 2, TKR v GAW, Review: Munro-Bravo guide Knight Riders to the finals

30-year-old Colin Munro survived a couple of close shaves to take Trinbago Knight Riders to the CPL 2017 final, on Thursday night at the Brian Lara Stadium. An unbeaten 57 by the left-hander helped Knights seal a victory with 12 balls to spare. The Knight Riders will face St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the CPL final on Tuesday.

Guyana Amazon Warriors batted first. Opener Chadwick Walton scored a 31-ball 37, putting a 47-run stand with in-form Luke Ronchi. The wicketkeeper-batsman was cleaned up by DJ Bravo and Walton too left the scene after adding 8 more runs to the total. Seven different bowlers bowled in the first eight overs for the Knights, putting a brake on Warriors’ run flow.

Roshan Primus cashed on the penultimate over from Daniel Christian 21 runs and that shifted the momentum to an extent. Primus finished with an 18-ball 35. Gajanand Singh picked 12 runs in the first three balls of the last over before Ronsford Beaton scalped two in two in the last couple of deliveries. The Warriors put on 159/6 on the board.

Dropped catches and indiscipline bowling

Having scored just 20 runs in the last seven innings while batting at the top, Sunil Narine once again failed to provide the fire at the start of the innings. With the ball, Narine played a crucial part, picking two wickets. But he was dismissed for a golden duck, setting up the match for the Warriors early on. All the hard work Primus did with the bat in hand turned to mud, as he failed to hang to a simple chance at mid-off, giving Munro a life, when he was just on 13. He then stroked seven boundaries and batted with a strike rate of 111.76. He was dropped again, this time by the skipper Rayad Emrit, as the chasers felt the rub of the green.

A quick-fire 27-ball 43 by Darren Bravo was enough to boost the Knight Riders innings, while Denesh Ramdin did the rest with an unbeaten 18 towards the end. For the Warriors, pacer Sohail Tanvir finished with 1/26 and Rashid Khan ended his spell with figures of 1/23.

Munro played the cool and calm customer, while Bravo took his chances and milked the bowlers at will. The Warriors displayed a poor performance on the field. Putting down some easy chances and conceding 21 extras with the ball in hand. The Kiwi opener was awarded the man of the match for his sheet anchor inning, and he will be eager to lift the trophy in a few days time.

Brief Scores:

Guyana Amazon Warriors: 159/6 in 20 overs (Gajanand Singh 39; S Narine 2/21)

Trinbago Knight Riders: 160/4 in 18 overs (Colin Munro 57*, Bravo 43; R Khan1/23)