Trinbago Knight Riders are currently enjoying a six-point lead over second-placed Guyana Amazon Warriors in the CPL 2020
The Bravo brothers -- Darren and Dwayne -- shone bright with bat and bowl, while Kieron Pollard produced an all-round effort to power Trinbago Knight Riders to their ninth consecutive win at the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) at Tarouba, Trinidad. (More Cricket News)
Against St Lucia Zouks on Saturday, Darren Bravo scored 50 off 42 balls while Pollard made 42 to guide Trinbago Knight Riders to 175 for five -- their third 170-plus score in a row, which they defended by 23 runs.
While defending, Darren's elder brother Dwayne (2/26) combined well with his skipper Pollard (3/35) to restrict Zouks to 152 for seven.
Trinbago rested Sunil Narine again, and openers Lendl Simmons and Tion Webster started slowly, with a six off Scott Kuggeleijn the only boundary Simmons managed before bottom-edging to the keeper.
Mohammad Nabi's second over was expensive with Webster powering him for a maximum over extra-cover to yield 13 runs.
Kesrick Williams followed a no-ball with a free hit which Tim Seifert powered for six.
Seifert batted at three because of Colin Munro's hand fracture as the Knight Riders reached 47 for one in the powerplay.
Webster cleared the long-on fence off Zahir Khan, but the Afghan got his revenge with a quicker ball to end a good cameo.
Roston Chase gave away five wides in an over that went for 10, but Zahir kept things tight going for just five and Mark Deyal closed the first half of the innings with an over of four. At the halfway mark, the Knight Riders were 74 for two.
Darren Bravo then hit a maximum over Zahir's head.
Zouks captain Daren Sammy introduced himself into the attack soon and marked the occasion with a wicket as Seifert sliced to Najibullah Zadran at deep point.
Pollard, back captaining after a rest, came to the middle with the Knight Riders at 94 for three after 13 overs.
Sammy gave himself a second over, but he went for 13 with Pollard top-edging a four and then clearing the extra-cover fence.
Pollard used his long handle to great effect as Trinbago Knight Riders amassed 54 runs in the last four overs to set a 170-plus target for Zouks.
Chasing, Zouks opened with Kimani Melius and Mark Deyal but the duo only managed 13 off the first four overs as Akeal Hosein and Sikandar Raza proved too hard to hit.
While Khary Pierre conceded a boundary to each opener, Melius gloved a Dwayne Bravo slower ball down the leg-side where Seifert took a good diving catch.
Andre Fletcher hit the innings' six off Fawad Ahmed, who also conceded a four to Deyal, but Raza and Dwayne Bravo kept things tight.
When a shower briefly interrupted proceedings in the 10th over, the Zouks were 63 for one and needed almost 11 an over, which eventually proved too hard as Dwayne Bravo and Pollard dished out excellent powerplay bowling.
Meanwhile, in the second match on Saturday, Jason Holder scored 69 and took one wicket as the Barbados Tridents defeated Jamaica Tallawahs by seven wickets.
Opting to bat, Jamaica Tallawahs posted 161 for four, a target which the Tridents overwhelmed with 10 balls to spare, reaching 165 for three.
The Knight Riders are currently enjoying a six-point lead over second-placed Guyana Amazon Warriors, who have played 10 games. Zouks are placed third in the points table.