Hales, Pooran and spinners fire TKR into CPL 2025 final

Trinbago Knight Riders stormed into the final of the Caribbean Premier League 2025 with a commanding 56-run victory over defending champions Saint Lucia Kings in Qualifier 2 on Saturday. 

Riding on half-centuries from Alex Hales and Nicholas Pooran, followed by a superb spin show led by Usman Tariq and Sunil Narine, the four-time champions set up a blockbuster final clash against Guyana Amazon Warriors.

Put into bat, TKR overcame the early loss of Colin Munro thanks to the familiar pairing of Hales and Pooran. The duo, fresh off their unbeaten 143-run stand in the Eliminator, once again carried the innings forward. Pooran took the lead, racing to his fifty with a flurry of strokes before being bowled by Roston Chase. Hales, who endured a slow start, found his rhythm midway through the innings and reached his half-century with back-to-back sixes.

Kieron Pollard’s explosive cameo lifted the tempo, especially his three sixes off Tabraiz Shamsi’s final over. The real fireworks, however, came at the death when Andre Russell smashed 28 off just 12 balls, plundering 22 runs in the final over off David Wiese to take TKR to a daunting 194 for 4.

The Kings began brightly through Tim Seifert, who cracked a flurry of boundaries to reach his fifty. But once Narine and Akeal Hosein entered the attack, the chase began to unravel. Narine’s guile and Tariq’s breakthroughs strangled the momentum, with the two spinners sharing seven wickets between them. Narine even bowled a double-wicket maiden, while Tariq finished the game with two scalps in the final over.

Despite Seifert’s resistance and Tim David’s brief fireworks, the Kings were eventually bundled out well short at 138 for 8, ending their title defence. For TKR, the clinical performance underscored their depth, with batters and bowlers firing in unison ahead of the grand finale.

Brief Scores: Trinbago Knight Riders 194/4 in 20 overs (Alex Hales 58, Nicholas Pooran 50; Roston Chase 1-16, Khary Pierre 1-24) beat Saint Lucia Kings 138/8 in 20 overs (Tim Seifert 57, Tim David 28; Usman Tariq 4-35, Sunil Narine 3-18) by 56 runs