Trinbago Knight Riders needed only one run off the final ball to clinch a nervy CPL final in Providence. They got it – and with it a first title since 2020 – yet captain Nicholas Pooran was adamant the decisive factor was mindset rather than match-ups.
“Nah [not tactics]. It’s just belief. Team belief,” he said, clutching the trophy moments after the one-run win over Guyana Amazon Warriors. “I’ve waited 15 years for this moment. This feeling, there’s no words to describe it.”
Key facts first. TKR posted 162 for 7 on a surface offering low bounce, Andre Russell’s brisk 34 and Kieron Pollard’s late 22 off 9 dragging them past par. In reply, the Amazon Warriors stuttered once Russell bounced Quentin Sampson and Pooran stationed Pollard, helmet on, at short leg for the catch. Akeal Hosein’s left-arm spin then closed the game out, figures of 3 for 18 earning him Player of the Match.
The result completed a memorable week for Trinidad & Tobago sport. Javelin thrower Keshorn Walcott and quarter-miler Jereem Richards had already collected World Championship medals in Tokyo; their feats were on Pooran’s mind.
“We weren’t only doing it for ourselves, but we were doing it for the people of Trinidad & Tobago,” he said. “They came out and supported us. The government supported us. Even the minister is here. I hope he’s going to reward us as well, right (laughs)?”
Experience questioned, experience delivers
TKR’s squad was mocked pre-tournament for its average age north of 30. By Sunday evening that supposed liability had morphed into an asset. Hosein, 32 and at the peak of his craft, twinned turn with canny changes of pace. Pollard, 38, was named Player of the Tournament after 249 runs at a strike rate nearing 180 and seven wickets with his cutters.
“First of all, it’s all about getting the ego out of the way,” Pooran reflected. “We’ve lost in the last five years and a lot of things were said: ‘The guys are old and time has passed’. I guess every single person, they answered and they proved everyone wrong. I want to start with Polly, 38 years old or young I should say, right (laughs)? MVP in a tournament like this. Dre, every single person, day in and day out. These guys really did it for us. For me as a captain, I can’t ask for anything else.”
Pollard v Tahir, chapter who-knows-what
The night’s theatre peaked when Pollard marched out to face Imran Tahir, the competition’s leading wicket-taker. With the crowd chanting “G-A-W”, Pollard launched three sixes – slog-sweep, straight drive, slog-sweep again – in a 20-run over before Tahir snuck a wrong ’un through the gate.
“As much as you guys talk about him being a match-up for myself on the television, I back myself to hit the spin,” Pollard said. “In a situation like today, what we needed was a quick cameo to settle the nerves.”
That cameo shifted momentum: from 114 for 5 after 16 overs to a total that left Guyana needing better than eight an over on a track slowing by the minute.
How the final turned
1. Russell’s short ball removed Sampson early, silencing the home stands.
2. Hosein dismissed the in-form Shai Hope with a drifting arm-ball; Amazon Warriors never truly recovered.
3. Romario Shepherd’s straight six off Dwayne Bravo left 11 required from the last over, but Bravo’s final-ball slower cutter proved too wily.
Depth behind the headlines
While belief was the dressing-room mantra, TKR were tactically sharp. Left-handers Pooran and Hosein were promoted to disrupt Guyana’s premier spinner Gudakesh Motie, whose stock ball turns away from right-handers. Motie finished with an unflattering 1 for 42.
Bowling-wise, Pollard and Bravo alternated cross-seam deliveries that gripped the surface, taking pace off when the ball lost shine. Casual viewers might label it “slower-ball stuff”; seasoned pros describe it as reading conditions and adapting.
What next?
Several TKR stalwarts hinted at continuing in 2026, but the franchise must soon address succession. Young quick Jayden Seales played only twice this season; nurturing him could be key. Pooran, meanwhile, will re-enter the international circuit buoyed by silverware.
For now, though, the captain is content simply to savour the moment. “I just want to say thank you to all my guys here, every single person in the TKR team, all the squad members, every single one of our fans. Thank you for the love and support.”
That gratitude, like TKR’s run to the title, felt rooted less in tactical detail and more in a collective certainty that, age or not, they still belonged at the summit.
