TAROUBA, Trinidad, CMC – Darren Bravo’s 11th Caribbean Premier League half-century and an all-round cameo from captain Kieron Pollard swept Trinbago Knight Riders to a comfortable 23-run victory over St Lucia Zouks, extending their winning streak to nine straight here yesterday.
Sent in at the Brian Lara Stadium, TKR piled up 175 for five off their 20 overs with left-hander Bravo striking a top score of 50 off 42 deliveries and Pollard blasting 42 off 21 balls.
In reply, Zouks never found the scoring rate required to really challenge the target and ended on 152 for seven off their 20 overs.
Andre Fletcher hit 42 off 27 deliveries and Mark Deyal, 40 off 33, but Pollard snatched three for 35 with his slow medium while fast bowler Jayden Seales (2-21) and medium pacer Dwayne Bravo (2-26) claimed two apiece, to hurt the innings.
The victory took TKR to 18 points while Zouks lie third on 10 points. Both teams have a match remaining in the competition.
Even though both teams entered the contest having already qualified for the semi-finals, the outcome still held significance with TKR aiming to finish the preliminaries unbeaten and Zouks attempting to leapfrog the second placed Guyana Amazon Warriors.
TKR lost the erratic Lendl Simmons cheaply for eight in the third over with the score on 12, when the right-hander edged a big stroke behind off Kiwi seamer Scott Kuggeleijn (2-35).
However, Seifert and Webster combined in a 43-run, second wicket stand to initiate a string of partnerships that saw TKR rebuild their innings and transfer pressure back on Zouks.
New Zealander Seifert punched three fours and a six in a 30-ball knock while Webster belted two sixes in a 14-ball 20 before missing a swing at left-arm spinner Zahir Khan in the seventh over and having his stumps shattered.
Darren Bravo then arrived to anchor the innings, putting on 38 with Seifert for the third before adding 67 with Pollard for the fourth wicket.
After starting cautiously, Bravo flourished to strike one four and three sixes while Pollard blasted three fours and three sixes as TKR upped the tempo at the back end to gather 67 runs from the last five overs.
Opting for a new opening pair, Zouks were handed a solid if not flying start as Deyal anchored the early stages of the run chase, posting 25 for the first wicket Kimani Melius (12) and a further 59 for the second wicket with Fletcher.
Deyal counted five fours before he was second out, holing out in the deep in the 12th over from Seales to give Pollard his first wicket.
Fletcher, meanwhile, smashed a four and three sixes but his demise in the 14th over, taken at long on also off Pollard, effectively ended Zouks’ challenge.
