The other stars for Knight Riders were Usman Tariq and Saurabh Netravalkar, who returned 5 for 42 between them to stop Antigua and Barbuda Falcons at 166
ESPNcricinfo staff17-Sep-2025
Usman Tariq picked up two wickets in the same over to derail Antigua and Barbuda Falcons•CPL T20 via Getty Images
It was set up nicely for Trinbago Knight Riders after their bowling innings, with Saurabh Netravalkar and Usman Tariq, in the main, restricting Antigua and Barbuda Falcons to 166. Then it was over to Nicholas Pooran, with Alex Hales his able collaborator, to knock off the runs with 15 balls and nine wickets in hand – Falcons were out of CPL 2025, and Knight Riders are now in Qualifier 2, where they will take on either Guyana Amazon Warriors or St Lucia Kings, and take them on full of confidence.The last two games of the CPL group stage had been played in Providence too, and a total in the range of 185-190 might have been competitive based on that small evidence. On the night, though, Pooran made it seem like even 215-220 wouldn’t have been enough.Knight Riders had gotten off to a good start courtesy Colin Munro and Hales, who put on 25 in three overs before Munro fell. But that was it as far as Falcons’ bowling was concerned.Pooran signalled his intentions off only the third legal ball he had faced, sending wicket-taker Rahkeem Cornwall over deep midwicket for six to get off the mark. Then came Hales’ first six, in the last over of the powerplay, off Cornwall again, and Hales followed that up with two more sixes in the same over to end the powerplay with 59 runs on the board.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man!
Nicky P stands up for TKR! #CPL25 #CricketPlayedLouder#BiggestPartyInSport #TKRvABF #RepublicBank pic.twitter.com/ZcHyugJvtV
— CPL T20 (@CPL) September 17, 2025