2068dESPNcricinfo staff

Akmal inspires Knight Riders to vital win

Umar Akmal's brilliant fightback secured a crucial three-wicket win over St Lucia Zouks to draw Trinbago Knight Riders level in third place with the Zouks on eight points

Match Centre

END OF OVER:
19 | 9 Runs 1 Wkt | TKR: 168/7 | RR: 8.84

  • Kevon Cooper2 (2b)
  • Umar Akmal73 (35b)
  • Delorn Johnson4-0-22-3
  • Shane Watson4-0-43-0

9.50pm: The CPL caravan now moves to Florida. Jamaica Tallawahs captain Chris Gayle has thrown his support behind making a USA leg an annual part of the Caribbean Premier League's schedule. Until next time, goodbye and cheers. Thanks for reading.

9.35pm: From 63 for 5 and then 114 for 6, Knight Riders have won with an over to spare. They move to third, displacing Zouks. The hosts, however, take a lap of honour and thank the big crowd.

Presentation:

Sammy: Halfway through the match, we were pretty happy with the total and confident we could have got it home. I don't think we executed our plans as well as we did in the last three games, but Umar played well. We were beaten by a blinder of an innings. Catches win matches and we dropped three. That was tough. We are still in with a chance. We play Jamaica twice in Florida. We are still in a good space and will press forward. Would have been nice to make it four out of four. I want to thank the crowd on the behalf of the Zouks team.

Bravo: Brilliant comeback. Congrats to Umar Akmal, words can't explain that innings. 65 for 5, we had messed it up earlier. You would not want your best bowler [Narine] to bowl only three overs, but the game plan that time was to bowl full and wide with the seamers.

Umar Akmal, Man of the Match: I was confident of chasing it down. I wanted to play positively and this is one of my favourite grounds. I have played in World T20 here.

18.6
2
Johnson to Cooper, 2 runs, full and just a shade outside off, Cooper drives it past the covers to seal Knight Riders' win. Umar does the sajdah and kisses the turf. Quality innings. Match-winning innings
18.5
0
Johnson to Cooper, no run, floaty full toss on middle, leading-edged to the covers

Cooper

18.4
W
Johnson to Narine, OUT, knocked 'em over. Too late for Zouks? Good length, straightens past the outside edge and hits the top of off stump. Narine has done his job

SP Narine b Johnson 17 (12b 0x4 2x6) SR: 141.66

18.3
1
Johnson to Umar Akmal, 1 run, wide yorker, squirted into the covers off the toe end
18.2
6
Johnson to Umar Akmal, SIX, Bam! full and outside off, Umar smokes it high and over midwicket. Sammy throws his head back in despair
18.1
0
Johnson to Umar Akmal, no run, overpitched and outside off, driven to extra cover

Knight Riders need only nine off 12 balls

Trinbago 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st4BB McCullumWKD Perkins
2nd26WKD PerkinsC Munro
3rd8D RamdinC Munro
4th3D RamdinUmar Akmal
5th22DJ BravoUmar Akmal
6th51AP DevcichUmar Akmal
7th52SP NarineUmar Akmal
8th2Umar AkmalKK Cooper