Watched by a near-capacity crowd last evening at the Providence Stadium, the Barbados Royals advanced to Qualifier 2 when they won their encounter against Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) by nine wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method in their Republic Bank CPL eliminator.
With five deliveries remaining in the innings and Pooran nine runs away from becoming the first batter to score consecutive hundreds, a power failure halted the match for two hours and three minutes with five balls left in the TKR innings.
Set a revised target of 60 from five overs in the truncated game the Royals raced to 64-1 in 4.2 overs.

The Royals lost Quinton de Knock (4) who was bowled by Sunil Narine, the spin wizard conceding 13 in the first over.
Skipper Rovman Powell (9) and a brutal unbeaten 50 from just 17 balls with three fours and five sixes from Colin Miller shattered TKR’s hopes of a fifth title.
TKR, spearhead by an unbeaten 91 from 60 balls with six fours and five sixes on the back of Pooran, reached 168-3 in 19.1 overs.

Pooran, the tournament’s leading run-scorer, with 514 runs added 67 with Andre Russell, who was undefeated on 20 while Jason Roy 25 with two fours and a six and skipper Kieron Pollard (17) were the other batters to reach double figures.
Earlier, TKR opted to bat and lost Sunil Narine (2) off the third ball of the match bowled by Sri Lankan off-spinner Maheesh Theekshana.
Under a clear night sky, Pooran, on the back of his scintillating century against the Warriors on Sunday, joined Jayson Roy and launched into pacer Jason Holder; smashing him for consecutive sixes followed by a scorching off-driven four.

Roy flicked Holder for six in the fifth over which cost 23 runs and flag-waving Trini fans were on their feet, dancing to the pulsating sounds from the sound system as the 50 was posted from 32 balls.
The handful of Bajan fans had their turn to celebrate when Roy, who hit two fours and a six in 25, drilled a catch to cover as Naveen-ul-Haq struck with the score on 54-2.
The 37-year-old Pollard and Pooran – who when he reached 22 overtook Quinton de Knock’s 434 runs- carried the score to 77-2 in 10 overs on the lightning-fast outfield.

Pooran soon reached his 48th T20 fifty from 38 balls decorated with four fours and two sixes but just after the 100 came up from 78 balls, the TKR skipper had his stumps scattered by a ‘slower ball’ from Ramon Simmonds at 101-3.
Pollard’s 17 included one boundary and his demise made way for big-hitting Andre Russel to join the in-form Pooran.

Pooran hit the first six since the fifth over when he deposited Theekshana over the Media Centre as Russell struggled for fluency.
The wicket-keeper batsman lifted Simmons for consecutive sixes and when he struck Naveen-ul-Haq for four he joined Colin Monroe (2018) as the second batter to score 500 runs in a season in the 12-year history of the CPL.
The lack of light then had the final say for the Trinidad innings.

Today from 19:00 hours the Warriors face the Kings in Qualifier 1 while the Royals will play the loser of that game in Qualifier 2 on Friday.