Good vibes and high spirits radiated between Captains Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy, respectively of the Trinbago Knight Riders and the St. Lucia Zouks, as they prepare to face off in the final match of the Hero Caribbean Premier League 2020 tournament.
The captains of the final and the coveted CPL Championship Trophy
During a pre-match press conference hosted on Wednesday, both captains shared their optimism about the final. Pollard described it as “one more hurdle”, and Sammy said he is expecting an exciting game of cricket.
“It’s plain to see (that) obviously, we’ve had a good tournament thus far. We’ve played some good cricket, we have come in every time and tried to improve as a unit; so, I think nothing is going to change come tomorrow (today). At the end of the day, we’ve reached thus far, so it’s just one more hurdle,” Captain Pollard stated.
Trinbago Knight Riders Skipper Kieron Pollard
“We’ve really put in some good performances, and I think that’s why we are in the final. Like Pollard said, the team who plays better on that day… Whatever you’ve done throughout the tournament doesn’t matter, it’s what you do on that day that will count. We, as a group, we believe in our abilities and we believe we could play a good cricket match,” Sammy shared.
Ahead of the most crucial game of the tournament, the captains were questioned about their thoughts about the conditions and challenges that may have been posed over the tournament.
To this Sammy answered that the wickets weren’t as bad for bowlers, but needed much more adaptation from the batsmen. Pollard shared similar sentiments, noting that the batsmen needed to up their game.
“I want to win, that’s the first thing. But in terms of the cricket side, you want a good wicket. So far, the second goer at Brian Lara, the batters can’t complain about the pitches, I think the pitches have been good for cricket. We just probably just didn’t play well, but it wasn’t because of the pitch, especially in this second go around,” Sammy commented.
St Lucia Zouks Captain Darren Sammy
“If I’ll be a little critical, yes the pitches haven’t been up to standard for batting, but what I have seen as well is that the guys haven’t mentally changed their game to suit the conditions, and that is something that’s not only happening at CPL, but it’s happening to us in international cricket as well,” Pollard chided.
He continued, “Because you can’t complain all the time about the pitches and we’re not changing as individuals. I didn’t see the mental fortitude of the batsmen throughout the tournament in the other teams. You know with TKR we’ve tried to adjust to the situation as it presented itself,”
Expectedly, Kieron Pollard is eyeing TKR’s fourth CPL championship, but Darren Sammy shared that his team has been mentally prepared for the effort that this battle will take. Here’s what they had to say:
“You know we look forward to it again. You know last year we were pretty disappointed losing in the semifinal, and we made some changes and we decided to come with a different sort of mentality; and it has shown on the cricket field. So, it’s just a matter to jump that hurdle and, hopefully, be that four- time champions,” Pollard explained.
“From the time the tournament started playing, we said whoever has to win this tournament has to go through TKR. That’s a given: you want to win this tournament, you have to beat TKR, and that’s what left to do. If we want to win this cup, that’s what we have to do,” Sammy stressed.
The final of the 2020 Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) will go down today at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba, Trinidad and Tobago, with the first ball expected to bowl off at 10am. (Jemima Holmes)
