Pollard’s gutsy knock of 82 was not enough to lead his side to victory

Image courtesy of: CPL T20

The St Kitts and Nevis Patriots handed the Barbados Tridents their first loss of the 2015 Caribbean Premier League (CPL) season in thrilling fashion.

The Patriots managed to outlast Tridents captain Kieron Pollard’s blitz towards the end of the match to walk away with a one-run win.

Pollard would have been pleased with his decision to bowl first as the Tridents’ bowling attack restricted the Patriots to 143/8 off their 20 overs.

Orlando Peters top-scored with 27, while Martin Guptill hit 23 and Carlos Brathwaite made an unbeaten 22.

Pollard, Ravi Rampaul and Rayad Emrit took two wickets apiece, while Jeevan Mendis chipped in with one.

Chasing 144 to win, the Tridents got off to a terrible start as they were reduced to 14/3 in the fifth over.

However, Pollard and Shoaib Malik brought them back into contention with a 93-run partnership, during which Pollard recorded his half-century, before Malik was stumped by Devon Thomas off the bowling of Shahid Afridi for 35.

Pollard continued to carry the Tridents closer to victory despite losing partner after partner.

Heading into the last over, the Tridents needed 19 runs to win and Pollard and Navin Stewert combined to score 16 runs off the first five balls.

Needing three runs to win off the last ball, the Tridents only managed to get one as Pollard ended up being run out while attempting to go for a second run to end the game as a tie.

Pollard’s valiant knock of 82 came off 58 balls, which included four boundaries and five sixes.

Sheldon Cottrell and Sohail Tanvir snapped up two wickets apiece, while Afridi and Peters claimed one wicket each.

Pollard was named Man of the Match.