TKR hope to regain momentum in Guyana

SUNDAY’S agonising one-run defeat to St Lucia Kings put an end to Trinbago Knight Riders’ (TKR) short-lived, two-match win-streak at home at this year’s Hero Caribbean Premier League T20 tournament.

TKR skipper Kieron Pollard said poor fielding was the root cause of their demise.

The result saw the four-time champions slip into fourth place in the standings, with the final round of matches scheduled to bowl off at Providence Stadium in Guyana from Wednesday.

Pollard was optimistic that playing their four last matches in front of a home crowd at the Queen’s Park Oval, St Clair, and Brian Lara Cricket Academy, Tarouba, would inspire a spirited performance from his troops.

The results proved otherwise.

TKR lost their first match against the tournament’s first playoff qualifiers, Barbados Royals, won against Guyana Amazon Warriors and Jamaica Tallawahs, and ended their home campaign with another loss, against the Kings.

Despite TKR’s batting woes this season, Pollard said shabby fielding ruined the team’s winning momentum.

“Two games in the middle there, the first one and the last one, were disappointing. We were building a momentum. Again, what was disappointing for us was the manner in which we started in terms of being flat in the field.

“You could get a good ball, you could bowl a bad ball and can recover from that. But it’s unacceptable when you’re flat in the field and making silly mistakes. Because at the end, it comes to haunt you just like it did (on Sunday),” he said in the post-match interview.

Though the team failed to capitalise on their home advantage, Pollard said they will look positively to the future at Providence. TKR resume their CPLT20 campaign against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Thursday from 10 am (TT time).

Despite losing, he said there were some positives coming out of the St Lucia clash.

“I thought we bowled pretty decently and restricted them to 147. They were looking and upwards, about 160-170, we know that was always going to be a difficult chase. But restricting them to 147, I think was decent.

“And then, Tim Seifert being the glue. Yes, we will look at it and look at strike rates, but you have to look at what he did, in terms of, holding the innings together.

“Getting (Andre) Russell to hit a couple sixes on the back end, hopefully that could help us going into Guyana. There were small takeaways, but again, disappointed in the end.”

A dry pitch matched with dewy outfield conditions proved a challenge for both teams. But Pollard believes the conditions, at this level, should not play a decisive role in the end result.

“It makes no sense talking about the pitch and the conditions. We know how to adapt to it. We have to focus on the cricket ball and as professional athletes, that’s what we do, we have to adapt.”

On TKR’s chances of bouncing back in front of a tough Guyana crowd over the next ten days, Pollard said he welcomes the challenge.

Asked about his “loving fans in Guyana,” he replied, “I will continue to love them.

"We know what we’re going to get. I play professional sports for a reason, and I play all around the world.

"The crowd in Guyana, you can tell them that they won’t intimidate me, but we’re going to come and play hard.”