Andre Fletcher’s 61-ball 93 was outdone by Nicholas Pooran‘s faster, more brutal 93* as Trinbago Knight Riders completed a record chase of St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots’ 193 to subject them to their ninth successive defeat of CPL 2024. Fletcher was aided by Kyle Mayers’ 60 which came at a strike-rate of 200 in a 99-run stand. Nicholas Pooran was supported by the platform Jason Roy had set from the word go with his 34-ball 64, as TKR polished off the chase with an over and a half to spare.
West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran has become the first batsman in T20 cricket history to score more than 150 sixes in a calendar year. So far this year, the left-handed batter has smacked 151 maximums in just 63 innings and is bound to add more with the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in progress. Nicholas Pooran is playing for Trinbago Knight Riders in the tournament and crossed the 150 sixes mark during his unbeaten 93-run knock off 43 balls against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the 25th match of the season.
Pitch and Toss
Pitch report: Some grass areas, and some bald areas. Could be two paced. There are some cracks in the centre that are covered up with grass. Hoping it doesn’t create unevenness in bounce as reckoned by Ian Bishop
Toss : Trinbago Knight Riders skipper Kieron Pollard won the toss and opted to field with three changes in the playing XI having left out Joshua Little , Sunil Narine and Paris with Jason Roy and Dwayne Bravo coming back in playing XI. St. Kitts and Nevis Patriots skipper Andre Fletcher batting first with Jeremiah Louis making his debut.
Skipper Andre Fletcher’s 93 powers St Kitts and Nevis Patriots to 193 for 4
On a good batting track, the Knight Riders opted to field first and Akeal Hossein took all of five balls to provide a breakthrough as he sent Lewis packing on 2. However, that brought Mayers on and he never wasted any time in getting going as he smashed the spinner for 12 runs, including the first four and six of the innings, in the first three balls he faced off Hossein.
Jayden Seales leaked three boundaries in his opening overs while Andre Russell got a taste of his own medicine when both Fletcher and Mayers pounded a six each. That said, the most severe punishment in the powerplay was dished out to Dwayne Bravo as Mayers went 4,6,4,4 to take the team to 63/1 at the end of that phase.
In an economical middle-overs spell, Chris Jordan applied the breaks with two good overs and even prized out the big-hitting Mayers to cut the partnership short of the 100 mark. In a brief cameo, Rilee Rossouw hit as many as four boundaries to chip in an 11-ball 20 before being dismissed by Seales.
Nicholas Pooran powers TKR to record run chase over SKNP
After a quiet couple of overs to begin the chase, Roy found his gears and did most of the scoring in the 43-run opening stand with Keacy Carty. Nicholas Pooran, who arrived at the crease in the sixth over, had quickly raced to 12 off the remaining five balls to help TKR end the powerplay on 55/1.
Together they kept the attack going in the middle phase as well, and the opener quickly raced to a 26-ball fifty. At the halfway mark, TKR were 100/1 and after copping a bit of the punishment in his first two, Tabraiz Shami broke the threatening stand by having the Englishman caught behind on an under-edge. Roy reviewed but to no avail. In the five-over phase that followed, SNP clawed their way back by conceding just 30 runs and also removing the dangerous Tim David cheaply.
Aided by a couple of reprieves, Nicholas Pooran raised a 32-ball fifty but TKR still needed 48 runs off the last four overs. Deciding to take charge, Nicholas Pooran went on the offensive against Jeremiah Louis, who had only given 26 in his first three. Three maximums in the over made it an expensive 21-run one as Pooran wrestled back control for his team.
And there was no looking back then as Anrich Nortje came in the firing line next, hammered for 4,6,6 and 18 overall in his final over. Fittingly, it was Nicholas Pooran who completed the formalities with his seventh six of the innings, nine balls and seven wickets to spare.
Nicholas Pooran etched his name in record books after he went on a six hitting spree in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL). Nicholas Pooran has scored as many as 21 sixes in the ongoing CPL. He hit seven sixes while playing for Trinbago Knight Riders against the Patriots and became the first man in the world to achieve a unique six hitting record.
Nicholas Pooran smashed seven sixes during his match-winning innings to create history. A couple of games, he had also ended Chris Gayle’s supremacy becoming the player to hit most sixes in a calendar year. Gayle had smacked 135 sixes in a single calendar year and he is the only player to hit more than 100 or more sixes in a year a staggering six times.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Andre Fletcher the loosing skipper said : I am well pleased to be honest. People tend to remember the last thing you do and I really wanted to come out here and show what I am worth. I am happy to put on a great total for the team, unfortunately we couldn’t go over the line but that’s how cricket goes at times. Kyle (Mayers) played well also. I couldn’t have asked for anything better with the ball. The guys executed well.
Dropping 5 catches in a crucial game, especially a world-class player as Pooran … we also dropped 28 catches in the tournament. For the fielding team, it’s poor, it’s way below-par and it actually cost us a lot of games that we lost. It was a bit hard and tough on us losing. Just keeping the focus, trying to keep the team together as much as possible, we had a lot of team bonding activities.
Sometimes when teams lose, you tend to have a lot of bickering and stuff in the team. We never had that, we stuck together. It’s just that the results didn’t show. I must say we stick as a family. We want to apologize to the St Kitts and Nevis fans. I know you guys are hurt, so do I. Hopefully next year will be better.
Kieron Pollard the winning skipper said : Disappointed with the last game not being able to defend 130 which was under-par. Coming here and with St Kitts batting and batting well, the conditions were very good for batting, and they scored 190-odd. The guys really came out trumps. We practiced here last night and the ball was coming onto the bat. When you give the batters, batting-friendly wickets, they tend to express themselves a bit more.
When the wicket is challenging, that’s where your skill sets need to come out. When you get a good wicket, you capitalize on it. When it’s not so great, you try to be smart and get a reasonable score. Tonight, good wicket, there was a lot of dew, ball came onto the bat. Batting second is something we wanted to do once we won the toss. (On Jason Roy) Very happy.
When you look at the Queen’s Park Oval track and the three games before that, he really hadn’t produced much for us. It would have done him more harm than good if we had played him in the Oval. That’s the nature of having experienced guys and individuals who understand the dynamics and the way this team wants to go. Those are simple conversations. We always knew that coming here, it was always going to be a better wicket.
Being one of our overseas professionals, we expect him to come and do well. Fantastic (crowd) again, we can’t stop thanking them for coming each and every time to support us. Its a really heartening feeling. They cheer every wicket and every run. Two more games to go here, hopefully we can give them some more to things to cheer about.
Nicholas Pooran Player of the Match for his 93 not out said : It’s a really nice feeling, first of all for the win and to perform in this environment, the crowd was fantastic today. We just had to get over the line. I can’t remember when last I got so many chances in a game. I am really pleased that I could be there till the end, that’s what I always want to do as a batsman.
Throughout this tournament, I have been getting starts. Apart from the first game, I really didn’t contribute too much for the team. We always have a good partnership, it was nice for him (Pollard) to come in and give me the energy which was required.
Four chances for Nicholas Pooran he made the Patriots pay. Chasing 194, Jason Roy got TKR off to a flier. He continued to go after the SNP bowlers even after the powerplay to notch up a 26-ball fifty. At the halfway stage, the hosts were 100/1 and it was Shamsi who broke the partnership by removing Roy.
The Patriots applied the brakes in the middle overs as they conceded just 31 runs in 5 overs which also included the wickets of Roy and Tim David. Jeremiah Louis, who had given away just 26 runs off his first three overs (which included a couple of dropped catches), leaked 21 runs off his final over (6 6 1 6 1 1).
It was impossible to stop Nicholas Pooran from there as he hit sixes for fun to wrap up the proceedings with 9 balls to spare. Earlier, Mayer’s 18-ball fifty and Fletcher’s 93 powered the visitors to 193. Dew played its role in the second innings and it was their fielding which led to their downfall in the match.
Destructive West Indies batter Nicholas Pooran created a massive world record in T20 cricket. Nicholas Pooran has been in remarkable form in the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) and played an enormous role in the Trinbago Knight Riders’ (TKR) qualification for the playoffs. Nicholas Pooran is the third-leading run-scorer of the tournament, with 275 runs in just seven games.
He was in destructive form against the Patriots and blasted a magnificent 93 in 43 balls to help his side chase 194. Nicholas Pooran hit as many as seven sixes during the knock. Overall, he has scored 21 sixes for TKR in the ongoing CPL 2024.
Nicholas Pooran has been on a six-hitting spree in the CPL and the seven sixes against the Patriots helped him achieve a significant milestone. Pooran became the first man in the world to hit 150 T20 sixes in a year. Nicholas Pooran already holds the record of most sixes in a year. The record was previously held by Chris Gayle, who scored 135 sixes in 2015, but Nicholas Pooran leapfrogged him in the ongoing CPL.
Meanwhile, the blazing knock against the Patriots helped Nicholas Pooran go past Alex Hales to become the second-leading run scorer in T20s in a calendar year. Nicholas Pooran so far has scored 2022 runs in 64 T20 matches. He only needs 15 runs to leapfrog Mohammad Rizwan, who has 2036 runs, to top the charts of most T20 runs in a calendar year. Nicholas Pooran can achieve the feat in the upcoming match against St. Lucia Kings on September 24.
End of a disappointing season for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots who recorded their ninth successive loss. TKR, on the other hand, are back to winning ways. They have two more home games and will be eyeing a top-two finish. That’s it for the match. After a day’s break, Trinbago Knight Riders will be in action again as they take on the table-toppers – Saint Lucia Kings – on Tuesday.