3pm Trinbago Knight Riders were without two of their highest wicket-takers - Shadab Khan and Kevon Cooper - who had 19 wickets between them this season, but on a slow Providence surface, Sunil Narine showed why he's highly regarded in the shortest format, yet again. His spell of 1 for 11 off four overs ensured Guyana Amazon Warriors, whose 131 for 9 was eclipsed rather comfortably, are all but eliminated from a play-off berth.
Knight Riders overcame early losses but Brendon McCullum's calming influence helped offset the damage as they recorded their sixth successful chase this season. Coming into this game, there was a mathematical miracle that could've ousted them. Not anymore. With that, it's time for us to say goodbye. Do join us for a double-header Sunday. Cheers!
Dwayne Bravo: Tough conditions, but we challenged ourselves to remain hungry. McCullum pulled up with a sore back, he decided to play just before the toss. Happy for him, happy for the win. We bat fairly deep, we have a good balance. We're not top-heavy. All our players, lot of them are successful at the Test level. So they are familiar with these conditions. Happy with the two points.
Martin Guptill: This was defendable, we didn't get it right in the middle overs. We've got four games left, some exciting times ahead to showcase what we can do. It's not ideal, but we have to win each of our four games. We've to forget this quickly and move on.
McCullum is the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 65. "Really pleased with the outcome," he says. "When you come to Guyana, you know the wickets will reasonably challenge you. We knew the threat Rashid poses, so had to work hard. Today, it was more of a one-day mindset on a wicket like this. If I could keep out the good balls, and manufacture ones and twos, you could play your shots towards the end. Rashid is very, very good. Took me a while to adjust. Till you face him, it's hard to formulate a game plan. He's a class bowler, someone we'll see a lot of in these competitions around the world."
