Allen stars as TKR fall short in thriller

The Caribbean Premier League saw back-to-back thrillers with Antigua and Barbuda Falcons edging out the Trinbago Knight Riders by eight runs to go top of the table. Fabian Allen smashed the Falcons out of trouble with a 20-ball 45 before Shamar Springer defended 14 runs in the last over to win the game.

With 36 required off the last two overs, Pollard showed he still had it in him as he smashed McCoy for three sixes on the onside. He ended the over with a boundary through extra-cover to bring the equation down to 14. But Springer mixed up the slower bouncers and low full tosses well to concede only five runs in the last over.

The chase began with Colin Munro getting off to a flier with back-to-back boundaries. He then powered Wasim through the offside as he went 4,4,6,4 against the left-arm spinner in the third over. Things only got better for Munro with three boundaries in the fourth over, powering TKR to 47 after four overs. The bowling change to bring in Obed McCoy worked for the Falcons as Hales' struggles (5 off 10) came to an end. The Falcons roared back into the contest as Munro fell two balls later with the New Zealander slicing it to third-man. Cornwall then picked up Nicholas Pooran as TKR sunk further into trouble while Darren Bravo fell for just 2.

Keacy Carty too didn't get off to the best of starts but hung around with a 31-ball 35 to keep TKR in the chase. After gritting it out, he went 4,6,4 against Usama Mir but just when things were going his way, he fell to McCoy. Akeal Hosein came and went which gave McCoy his fourth wicket before Pollard tried to win the game for the side in the death overs but fell marginally short.

Earlier, having put in the Falcons to bat, Rakheem Cornwall found the fence in quick time in the first two overs but was dismissed soon after as he holed out to long-on. With Jewel Andrew struggling at the start of the innings, the wicket put a brake on the scoring and the new batter Karima Gore struggled to get any timing going in his innings. It led to the Falcons mustering only 35 runs in the PowerPlay.

The in-form Gore fell immediately after hitting a much needed boundary to Nathan Edwards which forced the Falcons to start rebuilding again. Bevon Jacobs struggled against the wizardry of Sunil Narine and the pressure told in the next over as Andrew's struggle came to an end, also falling to Edwards. Jacobs continued to struggle against spin and survived a stumping appeal off Usman Tariq before he was trapped LBW off the next delivery. Veteran Shakib Al Hasan fared no better, giving Tariq his second after a 13-ball seven.

It was time for Allen and skipper Imad Wasim to take the mantle on their shoulders to give the Falcons some impetus. Allen hit his second delivery into the stands bringing some much needed intent for the Falcons. Allen then smashed Edwards for 22 in his third over which consisted of a six and two fours before taking Tariq to the cleaners in a 17-run over as he raced to 40 off 12. Wasim joined the party in the next over with a four and a six as the duo brought up the 50-run stand. The West Indian, however, fell to Mohammad Amir giving him his 400th T20 wicket but only after the damage had been done. The batting side hit two more sixes in the last over to take them to a competitive 167 for 6, with 82 runs coming off the last six overs.

Brief Scores:
Antigua and Barbuda Falcons 167/6 in 20 overs (Fabian Allen 45, Imad Wasim* 39; Usman Tariq 2-37, Nathan Edwards 2-56) beat Trinbago Knight Riders 159/6 in 20 overs (Colin Munro 44, Kieron Pollard 43*; Obed McCoy 4-39, Rakheem Cornwall 1-14) by 8 runs