Umar Akmal ends Zouks' home party; fires Knight Riders to thrilling win

The St Lucia Zouks juggernaut at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet finally came to a halt after three thumping wins after Umar Akmal on Tuesday (July 26), hammered an unbeaten 35-ball 73, after a lean run in the first seven matches, helped Trinbago Knight Riders chase down 168 with three wickets in hand and an over to spare. With this win, Knight Riders jumped to the third spot from fifth just ahead of the hosts.

Dwayne Bravo's decision to bowl first seemed to have backfired when Johnson Charles (27) and Andre Fletcher (25) flayed the bowlers to score 60 runs in the 7.2 overs. However, the captain himself and a bit of magic from Kevon Cooper on the field meant that the visitors pulled things back just a touch to reduce Zouks to 65 for 2 in nine overs.

The Zouks innings, after the initial blitz, kept gasping for momentum before it could manage just 167 for 7 in their quota of overs. The middle order, comprising of Shane Watson (32), Michael Hussey (12) and Grant Elliott (12), failed to convert their starts which proved decisive in the end.

Watson kept the runs flowing during his 28-ball stay but a mix-up between Darren Sammy and the former Australian all-rounder resulted in him being run out. With just three overs to go, Zouks were reduced to 125 for 5 with the onus on Sammy to give the bowlers something to contend with.

The Zouks captain slammed an unbeaten 18-ball 37 to take the team past the 160-run mark before Akmal's knock but the Knight Riders managed to rain on their parade regardless of the late blitz.

The Knight Riders response got off to a less-than-ideal start with Brendon McCullum (2) dismissed on the first ball of the second over. Colin Munro (21) came out with a positive approach to get the innings underway but his promising innings was cut down when Sammy got a direct hit to end his 16-ball stay.

From 30 for 1, Knight Riders nosedived to 41 for 4 and were starring at defeat. A loss could have severely hampered their chances. It soon became 63 for 5 when Bravo was caught behind off Sammy in the 10th over.

Akmal started the resurrection act with Anton Devcich first and added 51 runs for the sixth wicket. The duo did well to bring the equation down to 50 off the last five overs. However, Knight Riders were jolted again when the latter was caught at short fine-leg trying after an attempt to pull a short one.

It was Sunil Narine's little cameo of 17 off 12 balls that kept the visitors in the hunt before Akmal finished it off with a dash of panache.

Brief scores: St Lucia Zouks 167/6 (Darren Sammy 37*) lost to Trinbago Knight Riders 168/7 (Umar Akmal 73*; Delorn Johnson 3-22) by three wickets.