Pooran on loss to Royals: No excuses, we must do better

TRINBAGO Knight Riders (TKR) captain Nicholas Pooran said his team's batsmen need to take accountability and show more responsibility after the four-time Caribbean Premier League (CPL) champions fell to a third straight loss in the 2025 campaign – going down by seven wickets to the already eliminated Barbados Royals at Kensington Oval, Barbados on September 12.

TKR still sit atop the six-team table on 12 points from ten matches, but their form has worryingly dipped ahead of the playoffs after a fantastic home leg, which saw them win four of their five matches.

Batting first, TKR again had a rocky start with the bat as they slipped to 28 for three inside the power play after an early double strike by Man of the Match Chris Green (three for nine). When Green got the wicket of a struggling Keacy Carty (eight) in the eighth over, TKR slipped to 41 for four. However, a timely 71-run partnership for the fifth wicket between Pooran (45 off 44 balls) and the in-form Kieron Pollard (36 off 25) addressed the slide before lower-order batsman Akeal Hosein (23 not out off six) finished the innings in style with three consecutive sixes off part-time bowler Sherfane Rutherford (one for 29).

TKR closed on 166 for eight and Pooran felt they had a chance.

"I think we're not batting properly in the power play to begin with. We're losing too many wickets in the power play. And when you lose two and three wickets in the power play, it's a big step back. I still felt like we were in the game with 167," Pooran said, at the post-match presentation.

"It's all about playing the situation and digging deep as much as possible. The young leg-spinner (Zishan Motara) came on and we had an opportunity to score and we tried our best to take that.

"Unfortunately, Polly got out in the wrong time there. Dre (Andre Russell) and myself couldn't capitalise in the last over. Akeal came and finished the innings brilliantly and gave us a chance to win the game."

New Zealand opening batsman Colin Munro (373 runs) is the second-leading scorer in the CPL so far this season, while his opening partner Alex Hales has so far scored 248 runs with a pair of fifties. However, the aggressive openers have gone off the boil in the three-game losing skid. Munro has registered scores of nought, 17 and four in the last three games, with Hales just slightly better in the last three innings with scores of nine, seven and 15. To add to the recent lean returns of the opening pair, Carty and veteran Darren Bravo have also struggled to find their tempo in the top order, with wicket-keeper/batsman Joshua Da Silva making just seven in a rare appearance at number three versus the Royals.

"Obviously, we've been batting first and it's been challenging for us. But again, there are no excuses. As a batting group, we have been disappointing ourselves. I think the batsmen have to take accountability as well. We need to dig deeper as experienced players."

Similar to their scratchy start with the bat, TKR had a below-par start with the ball in the power play in the second innings as the pair of South African Quinton de Kock (55 off 35) and Barbados' Kadeem Alleyne (36 off 27) took their team to 62 without loss after six overs as part of their 87-run partnership. With the Royals progressing to 97 for one after ten overs, they looked to be heading to an easy victory. However, the mystery of Sunil Narine (none for 18 from four overs) and the deception of Pakistani off-spinner Usman Tariq (two for 23) kept TKR in the contest.

"Early wickets is something we search for and we didn't get them today. Kudos must be given to our bowlers as well. I think they fought really, really well. Usman and Sunil bowled really well in the middle overs and gave us a chance in the last five overs of the game. We lost the game there by obviously not executing our skills with the wet ball."

The Royals slowed down dramatically in the middle overs and their flow wasn't helped by the dismissals of de Kock and his countryman Rassie van der Dussen (seven).

Batting at number four, Rutherford (32 not out off 26) had a very slow start to his innings and even had a strike rate of 50 at one stage. With four overs left, the Royals still needed 45 to win and TKR seemed to have some hope.

However, Royals skipper Rovman Powell (27 not out off 11) clouted two sixes and a four off Russell in the 17th over while Rutherford finally picked up the pace and slammed three consecutive sixes off Pollard in the penultimate over to take the hosts to a winning score of 172 for three with an over to spare.

It was the Royals' second win of the season and took them to five points from nine matches. TKR have long qualified for the playoffs and will secure a top two finish at the end of the preliminary round if the Guyana Amazon Warriors lose any of their last two games.

Summarised Scores:

TKR: 166/8 from 20 overs (Nicholas Pooran 45, Kieron Pollard 36, Akeal Hosein 23 not out; Chris Green 3/9, Daniel Sams 2/25) vs BARBADOS ROYALS: 172/3 from 19 overs (Quinton de Kock 55, Kadeem Alleyne 36, Sherfane Rutherford 32 not out; Usman Tariq 2/23, A Hosein 1/23). Royals won by seven wickets.