Trinbago Knight Riders captain Nicholas Pooran smashed an unbeaten 90 off 53 balls against Antigua and Barbuda Falcons to lead his team to a nine-wicket victory in Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2025 Eliminator. Frustrated by umpires’ two lbw decisions against him which were overturned later, Pooran did not hold back as he hit eight sixes in his scintillating knock at Providence Stadium, Guyana.
Later, in the post-match presentation, Pooran said that he apologised to the umpire for his behaviour on the field.
“It was tough to keep emotions in, obviously I apologised to the umpires, it was in the heat of the moment,” he told the broadcasters.
Pooran, Hales hunt down Falcons
In the run chase of 167, Pooran walked in to bat at no.3 after Rahkeem Cornwall got the better of Colin Munro for a 12-ball 14 in the fourth over of the innings. The wicketkeeper-batter did not waste much time and smashed Cornwall for a six over deep mid-wicket. In the sixth over, Alex Hales hit Cornwall for three sixes. Knight Riders were 59/1 after powerplay overs. In the seventh over, Obed McCoy hit Pooran's pad and was given out. He opted for a review and the decision was overturned. At the halfway stage, Knight Riders were 95//1.
In the 12th over, Cornwall returned to the attack. He hit Pooran's back leg but the ball-tracking showed that it was missing the stumps. Once again, the review came in handy for Pooran. He hit Cornwall for a six in the next over to reach his 16th CPL fifty from 37 balls. He targeted Shakib Al Hasan, hitting two sixes and a four in the 15th over. Then, Hales reached his fifty from 37 balls in the 16th over. On the third ball of the 18th over, Pooran hit Jayden Seales for a six to finish the run chase. Knight Riders won by nine wickets with 15 balls to spare.
The skipper hit three fours and eight sixes in his match-winning knock. On the other end, the English opener hit three fours and as many sixes in his 40-ball 54.
Collapse in slog overs costs Falcons
Earlier, Pooran won the toss and opted to bowl first. Saurabh Netravalkar struck early and dismissed Cornwall for a single-digit score. Amir Jangoo and Andries Gous shared a 108-run partnership for the second wicket. Usman Tariq broke the partnership in the 17th over. He scored 55 runs from 49 balls. In the same over, Gous was dismissed as well. The USA batter scored 61 runs from 45 balls. Falcons suffered a collapse in the slog overs. Netravalkar, Sunil Narine and Andre Russell claimed middle and lower order's wickets. But, Shakib's unbeaten 9-ball 26 cameo took the score to 166/8.