Twitter Reactions: Kieron Pollard and Fletcher help Stars clinch their second victory

The action resumed in the Carribean Premier League (CPL) on Saturday after a day off. The St. Lucia Stars hosted the Guyana Amazon Warriors for a crucial encounter. The Stars needed a win desperately as another defeat could’ve potentially eliminated them from the tournament. To their good fortune, they won the game quite comfortably. Skipper Kieron Pollard was yet again the star for his team.

The Stars first restricted the Warriors for a low total in the first innings. Although they looked slightly edgy in the chase, they finished it off in a congenial manner. However, despite this win, the St Lucia Stars continue to slack at the bottom of the points table.

The bowlers restrict the Warriors to a low total

The visitors were put into bat first by the hosts. The toss factor definitely was advantageous as rain was looming around and chasing was ideal in such circumstances. Batting first, the Warriors failed to make the most as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Every time there seemed to be a partnership that was budding, the Stars’ bowlers struck back with a wicket. They bowled in right areas forcing the batsmen to commit mistakes.

Although Luke Ronchi got the team off to a flyer with 24 off 9 balls, the other batsmen couldn’t really contribute. Shimron Hetmyer, who has played some brilliant knocks this season, is highly inconsistent with the bat. He only scored a solitary run in this game while skipper Shoaib Malik scored nine runs. Cameron Delport, with 25 runs, was the highest run scorer as the Warriors only managed to get 140 runs in 20 overs. Kesrick Williams and Obed McCoy picked two wickets each.

An intense chase nullified at the end by Kieron Pollard

Chasing this small target down, the Stars had themselves to blame for letting the pressure mount on them. Lendl Simmons, who isn’t having a great tournament was sent in to open the innings in place of David Warner. However, he played a slow knock of 15 runs which came off 20 balls and didn’t look much comfortable. Also, Rahkeem Cornwall, who came in at No 3 was dismissed for a duck.

The run rate was under 6 when Warner came in. Hence, he started playing his shots right from ball one and looked really good in his brief stay in the middle. He upped the ante and scored 23 off 16 deliveries but got out just as things were looking good for the Stars. Although there was a rain interruption, it didn’t last long and hence there weren’t any overs that had to be cut down. Andre Fletcher played the anchor role and remained unbeaten on 45 off 46 balls.

Just as it looked that things will go all the way down to the wire, Kieron Pollard unleashed his big guns. All he needed was just one over to completely change the complexion of the game. He scored 30 runs off the 18th over from Devendra Bishoo to get his team home.

Twitterati was glad that St Lucia Stars won the game. They hailed skipper Kieron Pollard for his 18-ball 41-run knock.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

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