Pollard, Simmons shine as Trinbago Knight Riders win CPL

Kieron Pollard took four wickets before Lendl Simmons played an unbeaten knock of 84 runs as Trinbago Knight Riders defeated St Lucia Zouks by eight wickets in the final of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2020 on Thursday at the Brian Lara Cricket Stadium in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago.

With this, the Trinbago Knight Riders completed the first perfect season in the history of CPL as they won all their group-stage matches and then the semifinal and final. This is the fourth CPL title win for the Knight Riders.

Trinbago Knight Riders have ownership the same as IPL franchise Kolkata Knight Riders while the Zouks are owned by the same promoters as Kings XI Punjab.

Chasing 155, Trinbago Knight Riders got off to a bad start as they lost the wickets of Tion Webster (5) and Tim Seifert (4) by the fourth over, being reduced to 19/2.

Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo then got together at the crease and the duo retrieved the innings for the Knight Riders. Both batsmen mixed caution with aggression as they went about the chase.

In the end, Simmons and Bravo's unbeaten stand of 138 runs took Trinbago over the line by eight wickets. Simmons and Bravo remained not out at 84 and 58 respectively.

Earlier, Kieron Pollard's four-wicket haul helped Trinbago Knight Riders bundle out St Lucia Zouks for 154. Put in to bat first, St Lucia Zouks lost the wicket of Rahkeem Cornwall (8) in the second over as he was clean bowled by Ali Khan. However, Mark Deyal joined Andre Fletcher in the middle and the duo struck runs at a rapid pace to take Zouks score to 60/1 after the conclusion of the first six overs.

Fletcher and Deyal put on a stand of 67 runs for the second wicket but their partnership was finally broken by Fawad Ahmed as he dismissed Deyal (29) in the ninth over. Then Trinbago skipper Kieron Pollard got into the act as he provided Trinbago the key breakthrough of Fletcher (39) in the 12th over, reducing Zouks to 89/3.

Pollard continued to bowl a steady line and as a result, he was rewarded once more in the 14th over as he had Roston Chase (19) caught at the hands of Tion Webster. Mohammad Nabi (2) also failed to leave a mark with bat and as a result, Zouks was reduced to 117/5 in the 15th over.

In the end, Zouks kept on losing wickets at regular intervals in the final overs, and as a result, the side was bowled out for 154. Pollard was the pick of Trinbago's bowlers as he scalped four wickets.

Brief Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 157/2 (Lendl Simmons 84*, Darren Bravo 58*, Roston Chase 1-13) beat St Lucia Zouks 154/10 (Andre Fletcher 39, Mark Deyal 29, Kieron Pollard 4-30) by eight wickets.