Isuru Udana‘s half-century sealed the fifth defeat of Trinbago Knight Riders’ easy six-wicket win over Barbados Royals at Warner Park on Friday. The left-arm pacer returned scores of 5 for 21 – his best in T20s – to bundle out Barbados for 122, with a total of 19 balls to spare.
Revival of innings
Barbados got off to a slow but steady start, with openers Johnson Charles and Glenn Phillips making 29 run-a-ball stands. However, Udana thrice – scrapping the top-order – reduced them to 42 for 3 in two overs. Shai Hope and Azam Khan revived the innings with advantageous contributions, with Jayden Seals taking up most of their attack – which included a few sixes each.
While Shai Hope’s innings came to an abrupt end in the 12th over of the chase, courtesy of a diving catch at long-on by Bravo, just two balls after he hit Aqeel Hossein for a six, Isuru Udana hit Azam Khan on his return. Out in a spell. The batsman cut a huge delivery straight to the fielder at deep third man, causing lower-order devastation.
Even a fairly deep batting line-up could not help Barbados recover as Ravi Rampaul returned a brace and Udana scored five runs in 19.2 overs to end his innings.
Caught the ball incorrectly
However, early bursts from Mohammad Amir left the past champion’s chase early. The left-arm pacer left them struggling for 3 for 18 in the fifth over, while Sunil Narine and C. Munro caught the ball the wrong way.
Tim Seifert also struggled before Oshane Thomas ended his journey for 15 off 25 balls. Thomas’s pace on a two-paced wicket caused a lot of trouble for the New Zealander.
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On a day when the batsmen were struggling for most of the time, captain Kieron Pollard put his experience to good use. He attacked Thisara Perera in the 11th over – over a six over the third man and with a look for a boundary through fine leg.
As the innings progressed, he bowled four consecutive deliveries for sixes in the 13th and 14th overs – two each from Ashley Nurse and Jason Holder to pick up the pace in Trinbago’s square.
Wicketkeeper Dinesh Ramdin’s approval
He had the approval of wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin, who scored 29 off 31 balls in an unbeaten fifth-wicket partnership to play the second fiddle, helping the team comfortably cross the line at the end.
Kieron Pollard completed his fifty with the biggest six of the evening. After this, he scored a winning run on the next ball and rotated a full toss for a boundary.
Brief team scores: Barbados Royals 122 in 19.2 overs (Azam Khan 30, Glenn Phillips 24; Udana 5-21, Ravi Rampaul 2-13) lost to Trinbago Knight Riders 125/4 in 16.5 overs (K. Pollard 58*, Dinesh Ramdheen 29) *; Mohammad Amir 3-21) by 6 wickets.
