‘Ye hai Hitman 2.0’ – Fans react as Nicholas Pooran smashes magnificent century against Barbados Royals in CPL 2023

The 20th match of the ongoing Caribbean Premier League (CPL) 2023 was played between Trinbago Knight Riders and Barbados Royals at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad on Wednesday, September 6. The Knight Riders displayed a brilliant batting performance and defeated Barbados by 42 runs.

Meanwhile, Trinbago’s destructive left-hander Nicholas Pooran smashed an outstanding century and helped the team to score a monumental total in the first innings. Pooran completed his century off just 51 balls and scored 102 runs while remaining unbeaten. His knock included 5 fours and 10 sixes. Many fans have reacted to his century and lauded him a lot. Pooran himself expressed his happiness about scoring big in the post-match presentation.

“I am happy that I could perform, happy with the win. Had luck on my side today, it was nice to come out here and play in this way, the crowd deserved it. We both (Pollard and himself) bat together really well, but today it (run-out) was a miscommunication. Everything happens for a reason and I took the responsibility after that run-out. I know my team-mates wanted me to perform and I wanted to perform for the crowd. I was batting horrible earlier in the tournament, but happy that I could contribute tonight and we won the match.” Pooran said.

A brilliant all-round performance by Trinbago Knight Riders

Talking about the match, Barbados won the toss and opted to bowl first. However, their decision proved wrong as Trinbago batters looked in great touch, especially Pooran and Andre Russell who were dealing with boundaries only. Apart from Pooran’s magnificent hundred, Martin Guptill scored 38 runs while Russed smashed 39 runs off just 22 balls and helped the team to achieve a huge total of 208 runs.

Chasing the target, Barbados batters struggled a lot except Kyle Mayers who scored 70 runs off 45 balls which included 7 fours and 4 sixes. However, it wasn’t enough for the team as they lost the match by 42 runs.

Here’s how fans reacted: