Twitter Reactions: Kieron Pollard powers TKR to a comprehensive win over St Kitts and Nevis Patriots

Pollard's 22-ball 51 blew the Patriots away.

Published - 13 Sept 2021, 10:54 IST | Updated - 13 Sept 2021, 10:54 IST

3 Min Read

Trinbago Knight Riders officially qualified for the CPL 2021 semis after Guyana Amazon Warriors beat the Jamaica Tallawahs by 14 runs- DLS Method. In their last league, the Knights beat the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots by four wickets with one over remaining at the Warner Park.

Da Silva guides the Patriots

After electing to field first, the Knights restricted the Patriots to an under-par score of 147 in 20 overs. Joshua Da Silva was the start of the show for the Patriots. The right-hander opened the batting and smashed 50 runs off 45 balls with five fours and one six.

Sherfane Rutherford and Dwayne Bravo scored 25 runs each to take the Patriots to a respectable score. Ali Khan stood out with the ball for TKR as he picked up three wickets and gave away only 19 runs in four overs. Isuru Udana accounted for two scalps as well.

In the run-chase, the Knights didn’t blaze off. Lendl Simmons and Denesh Ramdin scored 20 and 17 respectively to take TKR off to a steady start. However, it was skipper Kieron Pollard, who changed the course of the game with a smashing 22-ball 51 with three fours and five sixes.

He was severe on Jon-Russ Jaggesar and smacked him for quite a few boundaries. Udana, after showing his class with the ball, did well with the bat. The right-hander stayed unbeaten on 25 off 16 with three sixes. Colin Munro and Darren Bravo failed to make an impact.

We’ll have a different team in the semis, says Dwayne Bravo

After TKR’s win, Pollard said that he didn’t wish to take the run-chase deep and rather put his team in command as early as possible. Dwayne Bravo, on the other hand, was disappointed, but said that he has a different team up his sleeves for the semis.

“It was a matter of intent, we were a bit behind, and we didn’t want to leave it too late, so I took a chance. I don’t want guys to go into that sort of a mode, it is important for us to win and gain the 2 points, that’s the sort of template I want the team to set. I wanted to score 36 (laughs, when asked about the positive intent in the 12th over), but it was important to show some intent,” Pollard said.

“I must say it was a good cricket game, we batted first, we wanted to defend totals, obviously 149 wasn’t enough against that batting line-up, happy though that we took it to the 19th over. It was a gamble to bowl Jaggesar against Pollard, but it didn’t work. We’ll have a different team in the semis, I’m happy with the way we played tonight,” Bravo was quoted as saying.

Here’s how the netizens reacted to TKR’s win:

Kieron Pollard smashed fifty from just 20 balls including 3 fours and 5 sixes – captain knock from Polly, he just saves the team everytime – this is fastest by a TKR player in CPL history. #ENGvsIND #ViratKohli #BCCI
— Crickipedia0⅘ (@Crickipedia04) September 13, 2021

Kieron Pollard 🔥😎
The Match Winner 🏆
Just Samshed 50(20) balls #CPL #kieronpollard @KieronPollard55
— Swaraj Wankhede 🇮🇳 (@CrickySwaraj) September 13, 2021

Kieron Pollard smashed 51 runs in just 22 balls. Hope he will continue his form in IPL from where he left off. Send Ambani saab's personal jet to bring our Polly back in UAE. @mipaltan
— R A T N I S H (@LoyalSachinFan) September 13, 2021

Kieron Pollard smashed fifty from just 20 balls including 3 fours and 5 sixes – captain knock from Polly, he just saves the team everytime – this is fastest by a TKR player in CPL history.#CPL2021
— cricshot (@squarepitch) September 13, 2021

Great is Kieron Pollard. Thanks for your contribution skipper #CPL2021 #TKR 🏏
— Stephon Isaac (@Jelly_Isaac) September 13, 2021

Kieron Pollard madness in the CPL, he scores his fifty in just 20 balls with 5 sixes. He's in geat touch, also Mumbai Indians' first game is against CSK so he wouldn't need any invitation.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 13, 2021