Pooran happy with winning start, Pollard rues dropped catches

Guyana Amazon Warriors humbled defending champions Trinbago Knight Riders in the first match of the Hero Caribbean Premier League with a nine-run win in St Kitts.

Warriors Captain Nicholas Pooran said this was the start the team was looking for against a good TKR team. Losing captain Kieron Pollard echoed different sentiments at the post match interview, lamenting the dropped catches that proved costly.
“I don’t win tosses, but toss doesn’t decide results. That said, we wanted to start the season well, since TKR are a good team. It was tough for us at the beginning, but we fought till the end. Hetty played well, as did Odean Smith. We thought if Odean plays he may bat at #8, but in the powerplay we thought he can do something at#3. On a track like this, our spinners did well, and we kept staying in the game with the wickets. Bit disappointed with our last over with the ball,” Pooran said at the post match presentation.
Meanwhile, Pollard, the losing captain, said: “I thought we gave them too many runs, dropped a few catches at the back end. Then we lost wickets in clusters. Only have ourselves to blame for not getting over the line. I knew 140 to chase, we were right in the game, despite how the wicket might have played. Positives are we bowled well for 18 overs, Ramdin and Seifert had a good batting day.”
Jamaican Odean Smith was the player of the match for his 2-10 with the ball and his 15-ball 24 with the bat after being promoted to number three. Speaking at the post match interview, Smith said: “the wicket was not easy to bat on, I wanted to just make full use. My message was to go out and go for it whenever the ball was in my area. It was difficult to bat on, so I knew their batters would have it tough too. A win early on is a good opportunity to move forward strong.”
The Amazon Warriors will lock horns with host nation St Kitts and Nevis Patriots on Saturday August 28 from 10:00h Eastern Caribbean time. (Brandon Corlette)