Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) batsmen looked good in their warm-up match at the Queen's Park Oval in St Clair, Port-of-Spain on Thursday as they took their team to a whopping 133-run victory over an Invitational XI.
Batting first, the TKR team rattled up an impressive 225/2 off their allotted 20 overs. Leading the way was skipper Kieron Pollard who made an unbeaten 45. Also among the runs were Tion Webster (52), Lendl Simmons (42), Darren Bravo (33 not out) and Amir Jangoo, 39 retired.
The Invitational XI was then put under the gun by leg spinner Sameer Ali who nabbed 4/14. Dwayne Bravo also got into his work and took 1/6 off two overs.
This match involved only the local players who are on the TKR franchise as the international and regional players are under quarantine at the Hilton Hotel.
Manager of the team, Colin Borde, explained that the foreign players will only be able to train with the team from the 15 leading up to the tournament opener on August 18 at the Brian Lara Academy in Tarouba, San Fernando. TKR opens against last year's runner-up Guyana Amazon Warriors at 10 am on that day.
The matches will be played without any crowds at the venue due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The players will all be in a bubble from Tuesday (August 11), the day after General Elections here in T&T. The local players will be allowed to vote before going into the bubble the following day.
So far all the players and officials who arrived in two tranches (international and regional) have tested negative for the virus and will undergo another test on Monday. Once they remain negative, they will be able to come out of their rooms and mingle in small groups.
After this, they will be tested a week after and then will be able to go to the designated practice facility at UWI SPEC in St Augustine to prepare for the tournament.
The Barbados Tridents are the defending champions.
SCORES
TKR 225-2 (20) (T Webster 52, L Simmons 42, K Pollard 45 no, A Jangoo 39 (retired), Darren Bravo 33 no) vs Invitation XI 92 all out (17 overs)(Sameer Ali 4/14) - TKR won by 133 runs.