11:48pm That will be a wrap from us. A see-saw game that ultimately swayed the Knight Riders' way. The Royals, though, have to pick themselves up quickly because the defending champions will be in town tomorrow. We hope to have your company for that game too. Until then, from Ranjith, Vairavan and myself, this is goodbye!
Kieron Pollard, Trinbago Knight Riders captain: A total team effort tonight. When you look at the guys who contributed to the win, when some guys don't do the job, the others follow up (and get the win). Well played to them (Akeal and Hinds after not being able to get the job done in an earlier match). We were really, really good with our fielding. To restrict them to that total, I would have taken that 10/10 times (before the start of play). He (Akeal) has done it fantastically well (in the powerplay). Well done to the bowlers (overall). There is obviously room for improvement always. Shaq and Carty were better tonight in terms of rotating the strike and putting pressure on the bowlers at the right moments, and that was an improvement from the last game. We continue to talk in the dressing room (about improving) and winning such games bodes well (moving forward). Well played to the Royals as well and in the end, we were able to come out on top.
Rovman Powell, Barbados Royals captain: Credit has to be given to our boys - they fought to the end. After losing two early wickets, they showed courage (to get to that score). The bowling group did well but we were maybe 10-15 runs short. The bright spot is our bowling. Trinidad is a world-class team and to contain them to that score, with a wet ball and on a wet outfield, credit has to be given to them (the bowlers). It was a case of me getting through their two key spinners. I knew the fast bowlers would come back and that is my strength. (On being unhappy with the ball change towards the end of the Royals' innings) I think it was a blunder on the umpires' part. It had just been four overs and there was not a lot of dew. When you bowl with a drier ball, it grips a little more. But those things happen. We will take courage from how we played tonight and it is now up to us to forget what happened and gear up (for tomorrow).
Akeal Hosein, Player of the Match: We were just trying to stay calm. Myself and Terrance were in a similar situation against Antigua and could not get over the line. Even today, I was upset to leave him alone (to finish it off). The trophy has eluded us for a couple of years. All hands on deck and good to have these type of finishes from the younger guys to help out the senior guys.
11:28pm Wow. What a game of cricket. The Royals do not know what has happened. They cannot fathom how this has happened. They crowd cannot believe what they have just witnessed. The Royals seemed to have the game in the bag after dismissing Hosein but then Holder transgressed, bowling a waist-high full toss that was ultimately called a No ball. Hinds then smashed the Free hit a mile back to turn thousands of smiles into more solemn faces. Prior to that, Pooran and Carty did much of the early running. Parris also scratched around for 35 but it came down to the Knight Riders' lower order to get the job done. And they did get the job done. Just.
A tough pill to swallow for the Royals. They had no business dragging this game this close and then putting themselves into a winning position, given the score they had on the board. Yet, they found a way, through sheer grit and determination. However, just when it mattered, they could not hold their nerve and they will definitely look back at this as a missed opportunity. Their unbeaten streak has also been snapped and to make things tougher for them, they have to do it all over again tomorrow against the Guyana Amazon Warriors.
4 off 2. Free hit to tuck into for Hinds
