STAND-IN St Lucia Kings captain Andre Fletcher believes Kieron Pollard’s dismissal in Tuesday’s Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 semi-final was the deciding factor in his team’s crucial 21-run victory over the defending champions at Warner Park in St Kitts.
After the St Lucia franchise piled on a hefty 205/4, Pollard’s quick-fire 26 runs from 13 balls partnered with good batting contributions from Sunil Narine (30), Denesh Ramdin (29), Colin Munro (28) and Darren Bravo (25), strengthened TKR’s chances of a possible win.
However, when the TKR captain attempted another big shot, which lofted the ball into Fletcher’s gloves, the remaining four wickets fell for just 11 runs and saw the defending champions removed for 184 with three balls remaining.
Ten overs into TKR’s innings, during the drinks break, Fletcher said the team talk with coach Andy Flower and team mentor Daren Sammy proved pivotal in helping motivate the squad to victory.
At that time, TKR were 99/3 and in need of 106 runs from the remaining 60 balls with Bravo and Ramdin in the middle.
[caption id="attachment_913131" align="alignnone" width="731"] Mark Deyal of Saint Lucia Kings hits a six to bring up his half century during the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League Play-Off match 31 against Trinbago Knight Riders at Warner Park Sporting Complex on Tuesday in Basseterre, Saint Kitts - Photo courtesy CPL T20[/caption]
“During the break, the coach said it was not a bad time (for us) and that we were doing well. It was just for us to peg them (TKR) back a bit because they were going at the required run rate, knowing that Pollard had not come on as yet.
“We knew it wasn’t over and we were trying our best to see if we could get the run rate as high as possible by the time Pollard came in. We can’t take anything away; Ramdin played well, the other guys played well and it was an honour to see when Pollard got out.”
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, brazen knocks from Mark Deyal (78), Tim David (38 not out), David Wiese (34 not out) and Roston Chase (36) propelled the St Lucia franchise over the 200-run mark for the second time at this year’s tournament.
Spinner Sunil Narine was the most economical of TKR’s bowling attack as he bagged one wicket, the main man Deyal, for 12 runs. Pacer Ravi Rampaul (1/56) was most expensive with the ball this time around.
In their turn at the crease, TKR looked good although losing Lendl Simmons (4) early on. Narine brought some stability to the innings but a well-worked 41-run partnership from Bravo and Ramdin partnered with Pollard’s contribution brought hope to the chasing team.
His dismissal brought the team crashing down and eliminated their chances of a possible title repeat.
South African pacer David Wiese (5/39) captured his second five-for of the tournament while Guyanese fast bowler Keemo Paul (2/21) and Pakistan’s Wahab Riaz (2/36) topped the bowling.
This result propelled the Kings into their second consecutive f
