Pollard not worried by shaky TKR start

Colin Munro (L) and Tim Seifert (R) of Trinbago Knight Riders are not out after Andre Fletcher of Saint Lucia Kings run out attempt during the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League match 7 between Saint Lucia Kings and Trinbago Knight Riders at Warner Park Sporting Complex on Sunday, in Basseterre, St Kitts. - via CPL T20
Colin Munro (L) and Tim Seifert (R) of Trinbago Knight Riders are not out after Andre Fletcher of Saint Lucia Kings run out attempt during the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League match 7 between Saint Lucia Kings and Trinbago Knight Riders at Warner Park Sporting Complex on Sunday, in Basseterre, St Kitts. - via CPL T20

TRINBAGO Knight Riders (TKR) are off to a shaky start in the 2021 Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament, but captain Kieron Pollard is not too concerned saying they are not “far off” from delivering more consistent performances in the tournament.

TKR will play St Lucia Kings in their fourth match of the tournament at Warner Park in St Kitts, from 10 am, on Tuesday.

At a media conference on Monday, Pollard said, “You want to be three and three (in terms of wins), you want to be sitting pretty just like the St Kitts Patriots but again these things happen. Last year, we went through the entire tournament without losing a game…I think we have not been far off.”

Defending champions TKR ended the 2020 campaign with a perfect record which included ten consecutive wins in the preliminary stage.

This year, TKR have started the tournament with one win and two losses and are currently third on the six-team standings. It has been a competitive start to the tournament as only St Kitts and Nevis Patriots are undefeated with three wins. The other five teams all have two points and are only separated by net run rate.

TKR’s batting has been mediocre failing to chase 143 in the opening match against Guyana Amazon Warriors. TKR’s top order struggled and they could post 133/9.

In the second match, TKR were four wickets down with less than 40 runs on the board chasing 123 and needed a partnership between Pollard and Denesh Ramdin to rescue the team and pull off a six-wicket win over Barbados Royals.

In the last match, TKR also failed to chase a manageable target of 158 against the Kings by scoring 152/3.

“We lost a couple close games, one by nine runs and one by five runs so it is just a matter of us putting the pieces of the puzzle together quickly, playing that complete game and sort of building that momentum,” Pollard said.

He is not worried about the team’s batting which includes Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo and the New Zealand pair of Colin Munro and Tim Seifert.

“We have world-class players in our team. We have international cricketers in our team, we have guys who have played international cricket in our team, in our batting lineup.”

Pollard said TKR will not panic, saying, “We can’t say we are going to change anything overly too much because there is not much practice time and the games are coming thick and fast.”

Pollard was tight-lipped on any changes to the starting XI. Darren Bravo did not play against the Kings in the last game due to injury. Leg spinner Yasir Shah and fast bowler Ali Khan have not featured this year.

The TKR bowlers have held their own which includes pacers Isuru Udana, Ravi Rampaul and Jayden Seales. The leading spinners are Sunil Narine and Akeal Hosein.

“We have bowled well…restricting the opposition on a ground like St Kitts I think has been fantastic. Our bowlers have been really great in terms of execution.”

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