Match Scorecard: Trinbago Knight Riders 150 for 6 (Pollard 51) beat St Kitts and Nevis Patriots 147 for 7 (Da Silva 50, Khan 3-19) by four wickets
With a four-wicket triumph over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots, Kieron Pollard put on a show that helped Trinbago Knight Riders secure top position on the CPL table.
After slumping to 52 for 3 in the ninth over chasing Patriots target of 148, Knight Riders appeared to be in danger of finishing third on the table, leaving them vulnerable to weather in the semi-finals. Pollard, on the other hand, smashed 51 off 22 balls to make the chase a routine.
The outcome means that the Trinbago Knight Riders will meet the fourth-placed St Lucia Kings in the first semi-final, while the Patriots will face the Guyana Amazon Warriors in the second live T20 semi-final.
To de-stress the situation, Pollard hit Jon-Russ Jaggesar for two sixes in his first two balls. He clubbed Jaggesar over the rope three more times two overs later, removing 23 runs from the over and lowering the necessary run rate from well over eight per over to just over a run-a-ball.
He sped to his half-century in just 20 balls, breaking the Knight Riders' previous record for the quickest half-century. He was knocked out for 51 seconds later, but the damage had already been done. Despite a few anxious moments, Isuru Udana guided the team to victory in the 19th over, scoring 25 runs off 16 balls.
Fawad Ahmed, who took 2 for 16 in four overs to put the Patriots in a position to finish out the game, was overshadowed by Pollard's effort.
Ali Khan had earlier taken 3 for 19 from four overs and Udana had 2 for 28 to guarantee Knight Riders were chasing less than 150 on a good batting surface. Despite Joshua Da Silva's 50 off 45 balls and Dwayne Bravo's brilliant cameo of 25 off 13 balls towards the conclusion of the innings, the Patriots' innings stagnated in the middle overs.
Bravo held steady, blasting Ravi Rampaul for successive sixes to take the score to 147. Udana's three wickets in the 19th over, including Bravo, helped set a manageable goal for Knight Riders.