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Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) soared to the top of the table in the Republic Bank Caribbean Premier League with their second consecutive win at home in front of a near capacity crowd at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, on August 29.
TKR ended on 179/3 in 17.5 overs, in response to the 178/6 posted by the Barbados Royals.
The hours the fans spent in traffic on the way to the venue was well worth it as fifties from Colin Munro and Nicholas Pooran steered TKR to a commanding seven-wicket win over the still winless Barbados Royals.
Royals are at the foot of the table with three losses and one no result. TKR, now with four wins and one loss, are starting to show the form that has seen the franchise win four titles.
Munro, who has scored over 200 runs in his first four innings in this campaign, was in a hurry to head back to the team hotel in Port of Spain as he hit spinner Chris Green for 16 runs in the second over as he had the fans on their feet from the get-go.
TKR raced to 33 without loss after three overs with Munro already on 27.
Munro got a life when Jomel Warrican put down a tough chance running back from short third man.
The match was stopped when Munro was struck on his hand while attempting a quick single. When he was grounding his bat, the throw from the Royals fielder hit him and the TKR physiotherapist had to give Munro some attention.
After the injury break, Alex Hales took over the scoring, lashing a six and a four in an over, but he could not survive much longer as he skied a delivery to Shaqkere Parris and was dismissed for 19.
Munro did not look himself for a couple overs, before lashing Green for two sixes down the ground to reach 50. At that point, TKR had their noses in front with the score 80/2 after eight overs.
TKR then blasted Royals for 39 runs in the next two overs as the home team were now large and in charge on 119/2 after ten overs.
The two-over massacre included three sixes by Pooran off Royals captain Rovman Powell in a 21-run over.
For the next few overs, Pooran and Munro mostly scored singles, but the pressure was off as the required run rate was around seven runs per over.
Pooran broke the drought of boundaries with a straight six to bring up his first fifty of the tournament.
Against the run of play, Munro was run out going for a second run. The leading run scorer in the tournament fell for 67 off 44 balls with four fours and four sixes. The New Zealand batsman already has 280 runs at an average of 70.
Former TKR captain Kieron Pollard joined current captain Pooran and the pair completed the match with no more hiccups. Pooran ended unbeaten on 65 off 40 deliveries with one four and six sixes and Pollard was 19 not out.
Earlier, the TKR bowlers had the Royals batsmen in a bit of a stranglehold as the away team were 19 without loss after three overs.
In the fourth over, TKR were rewarded for their disciplined start as fast bowler Ali Khan bowled the dangerous Quinton de Kock for 17 with an in swinging delivery that beat the South African between bat and pad.
Opener Brandon King did not look fluent early on, but that was not the case for Kadeem Alleyne as he struck two fours in quick succession.
Alleyne's stroke play seemed to rub off on King as he broke the shackles with a couple boundaries, one was a six over square leg off Khan.
Royals were comfortably positioned on 57/1 after seven overs.
TKR were not grabbing wickets, but limited the boundaries being scored by the Royals as the Barbadian franchise inched to 70/1 after ten overs.
King greeted pacer Andre Russell with a massive six over square leg, but in the same over the right-hander chased a wide delivery and was well caught by wicketkeeper Pooran.
King had to return to the pavilion for 29 off 23 deliveries.
Sherfane Rutherford joined Alleyne and the former showed intent immediately. He showed his power and also used the pace of the ball in hitting two fours behind point by just opening the face of the bat.
Royals struck boundaries, but there were quiet periods for the batsmen as they did not get to 100 until the 14th over.
With eight wickets in hand, the message from the Royals dugout would have been to move into second gear.
Rutherford calmed the nerves in the Royals pavilion with two sixes off left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir, the first a brilliant shot over cover.
Rutherford raced to 30 off only 13 deliveries, while Alleyne was kept at bay.
In an effort to increase his scoring rate, Alleyne could only pick out Keacy Carty as Amir got the breakthrough. Alleyne scored 41 off 37 balls, way below his average strike rate.
Rutherford continued to show his quality with a six and a four off Russell, but the fast bowler had the last laugh.
Rutherford pulled a delivery miles into the air, but it did not have enough to clear the fence as Hales took the catch just a few feet inside the boundary.
The left-hander struck 45 off 22 with three fours and four sixes.
Powell was watchful at the start of his innings, but in the 18th over, he belted Khan for three sixes and a four. One of the sixes almost left the venue.
Russell, who has not been given much opportunity to bat in this campaign, has been a consistent wicket-taker. He got the wicket of Powell in the final over as Munro held on to a tough chance just inside the cover boundary. The Royals skipper made a brisk 31 off 15 balls to push his team to a healthy 178/6 in 20 overs.
Russell was the pick of the bowlers for TKR with 3/37 in four overs and Amir was next best with 2/35 in his four.

Summarised scores:
ROYALS 178/6 (20 overs) (Sherfane Rutherford 45, Kadeem Alleyne 41, Rovman Powell 31; Andre Russell 3/37, Mohammad Amir 2/35) vs TKR 179/3 (17.5 overs) (Colin Munro 67, Nicholas Pooran 65 not out). TKR won by seven wickets.

The post TKR soar to top of CPL with victory over Royals appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.