12.35am Tridents win but their qualification prospects fade away further. Winning this narrowly wasn't going to do it. They now need to win their last match by by 220 runs if they similarly bat first. Coming to this game itself, it was a story of two collapses. It was Parnell's innings that turned the match on its head. With three wickets to follow up, he should undoubtedly be Man of the Match. Brendon McCullum's injury came as a blow to Knight Riders, but they did the right thing and didn't risk sending him out again ahead of the knockouts, having already qualified.
"Bowling gives me more pleasure. Getting wickets, you can celebrate," says Man of the Match Wayne Parnell. "But it was crucial for me to make a contribution with the bat. Polly (Kieron Pollard) knows I have batted up the order and lower down. I think when we've played badly, Polly's message has been to just keep calm and stay level. Anything is possible in cricket, but having said that, tomorrow is a fresh wicket."
"I think the key was the length we bowled on this wicket," says Tridents captain Kieron Pollard. "After watching them bowl, we could see the ball was doing a bit and the back of a length ball was going to be key. It was not easy scoring off that length. I just told the bowlers we have the experience, it's the length you bowl anyway,so it's just a matter of consistency. Being able to bat 20 overs and get 130-odd gave us a fighting chance. Seeing Parnell stand up, with all his maturity, and Springer, too, batted with a lot of confidence. It's a big game regardless. A win is most important for us. I'm going to tell the guys the same thing I told them today, which is to win a game of cricket. We owe it to ourselves. More than thinking about anything else, it's important to win."
"He (Brendon McCullum) has gone to the hospital. We don't have official news yet," says Dwayne Bravo. "It doesn't look good, but let's hope for the best. Any time you chase a total, start is important, and then to lose McCullum was a big momentum shift. But no excuses, the Tridents bowlers bowled well. I bowled my trump bowlers, I bowled out Sunil Narine, I bowled out Shadab because when you pick wickets, you keep them under pressure. But they didn't give us any chance. And then they bowled and fielded well and Pollard led them as well.It was a good game. Unfortunately we lost, but we look forward to doing well on Tuesday."
Tridents leave tonight with a seemingly impossible task of winning by 220 runs. And they must bat first. They cannot win by chasing. That's really requiring a lot to go your way, so they will in all likelihood bow out tomorrow. Knight Riders, on the other hand, face the prospect of heading into the knockouts without McCullum which is a massive blow. Those are big shoes to fill at a crunch moment. This is all we have for you today. Do join us tomorrow for the final league match of the season. Ciao!
JPR Scantlebury-Searles c sub (T Webster) b Wahab Riaz 29 (21b 3x4 1x6) SR: 138.09
Wahab for the 19th
END OF OVER:18 | 5 Runs | TKR: 116/8 (21 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 6.44, RRR: 10.50)
- Javon Searles25 (19b)
- Anderson Phillip2 (2b)
- Kieron Pollard4-0-26-2
- Wayne Parnell4-0-31-3
END OF OVER:17 | 19 Runs 1 Wkt | TKR: 111/8 (26 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 6.52, RRR: 8.66)
- Javon Searles22 (15b)
- Wayne Parnell4-0-31-3
- Kieron Pollard3-0-21-2
AR Nurse b Parnell 6 (5b 1x4 0x6) SR: 120.00
Rampaul is coming off.