BARBADOS - In the lead-up to the first match of the Caribbean Premier League, there were reports of protests in Barbados over the appointment of Kieron Pollard, a Trinidadian, as captain of the Barbados Tridents. But Pollard's unbeaten half-century and three-wicket haul in the 17-run win against St Lucia Zouks on Tuesday is likely to have added to his growing legion of fans.
After Barbados, having chosen to bat first, were reduced to 48 for 4, Pollard played the perfect foil to an aggressive Shoaib Malik, as the pair added 88 runs off 61 balls. Malik, who was named the Player of the Match, raced to his 50 off just 35 balls, and smashed a six and two fours off pacer Nelon Pascal in the 15th over. Once Malik perished for 78 in the 18th over, going for a slog off Tino Best, Pollard stepped up with the big shots, hitting 28 runs off the last two overs to take Barbados to 169 for 5. St Lucia, in reply, got off to a good start, as the openers Tamim Iqbal and Andre Fletcher had a 57-run stand. Having powered to 77 for 1 off seven overs, St Lucia were in a good position and the match was theirs to lose. They went on to do exactly that, as the wicket of Fletcher in the 12th over sparked a mini-collapse and the visitors went on to lose their remaining eight wickets for 57 runs.
Struggling at 105 for 5, Darren Sammy briefly raised St Lucia's hopes with a 16-ball 35, belting four fours and two sixes, but found himself running out of partners as the asking rate mounted. Pollard struck twice in the 18th over to dismiss Misbah-ul-Haq and Shane Shillingford, while Jason Holder dismissed Sammy and Tino Best off consecutive balls in the 19th over. Pollard sealed the win with a wicket in the final over, to end with match figures of 2.4- 0-15-3.
BRIEF SCORE: Barbados Tridents 169 for 5 (Malik 78, Pollard 61*) beat St Lucia Zouks 152 (Fletcher 57, Pollard 3-15, Nurse 2-18) by 17 runs.